"The closest to Gretzky" "He finished minus": NHL fans left divided over Connor McDavid's first 4 Nations Face-Off game for Team Canada

On Thursday, a video showcasing Connor McDavid's highlights from the 4 Nations Face-Off opener circulated on X. Canada defeated Sweden 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday.

Although McDavid did not score, he recorded one assist in 21:26 of ice time and finished with a -1 rating. However, his skill was a sight to see during the game. His quick reflexes and speed allowed him to win puck battles, leaving Swedish players struggling to keep up.

Sharing the clip, B/R Open Ice captioned,

"Connor McDavid is pure entertainment 🍿."

Soon, the video drew the attention of the fans, who started sharing their reactions to McDavid's performance.

"The closest to Gretzky in some time," one fan said.

"After watching this video, it actually just dawned on me how stationary his head is during most of these insane speed bursts. Anyways, get this guy a winger upgrade," a fan said.

"What this cat does is a helluva lot entertaining and harder than watching a 3 point shot. You’ve got a stick, puck and flying around on 1/8 inch blade on ice. Purely magical," a fan shared.

Here are some more reactions from fans on X:

"He finished minus, and I could count the number of complete passes he made to his wingers on one hand," another fan said.

"He was buzzing! Team Canada looking great.. goaltending is the weak point for sure," a fan pointed.

"Had a great game, but needs new linemates. Also can tell he still getting over his bug because he looked drained end of game," another said.

Connor McDavid talked about the overtime win over Sweden

Team Canada won 4-3 in overtime against Team Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off. Canada had 28 shots, and Sweden had 26, with Canada winning 57.4% of faceoffs. Talking about the win, McDavid said,

“We worked hard out of the two days of practice. ... There’s a lot more work to go, but it was a good start.”

Nathan MacKinnon scored first on a power play assisted by Sidney Crosby. Brad Marchand made it 2-0 with an assist from Brayden Point.

Sweden answered in the second period with a goal from Jonas Brodin. Canada responded when Mark Stone made it 3-1.

Sweden tied the game in the third period with goals from Adrian Kempe and Joel Eriksson Ek. Later, Mitch Marner scored the overtime winner at 6:06, assisted by Crosby.