Ex-NHLer points out glaring issue with Team Canada's performance in 4-0 win over Slovenia in IIHF Worlds opener

Team Canada won its opening game at the IIHF World Championships with a 4-0 result over Slovenia in Stockholm. The win puts Canada alongside Sweden and the USA as early unbeaten teams, but the performance lacked edge.

After the game, former NHLer Matt Murley criticized Canada’s even strength performance on X. He pointed out that three out of Canada’s four goals came from the power play.

“❌Canada only scoring 1 goal 5 on 5 vs. Slovenia is pathetic,” he tweeted, tagging Colby Arnstrong.

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Bo Horvat led the scoring for Canada, finding the back of the net twice on the powerplay. His first goal came midway through the first period and he added a second early in the third. Horvat came close to a hat trick with a third powerplay chance but Slovenian goaltender Lukas Horak made a glove save to deny him.

Nathan MacKinnon contributed three points on the night including a goal of his own. New York Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson rounded out the scoring with a powerplay goal in the final period. Despite the scoreline, Canada needed 44 shots to get four goals and didn’t finish chances cleanly.

Meanwhile, Slovenia managed just shots on the night. Goalie Lukas Horak stood out as their best player. At the other end, Dylan Garand stopped every shot for a shutout in his tournament debut. Marc-Andre Fleury served as backup while Jordan Binnington didn’t dress for the game.

Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby had a quiet night

Sidney Crosby returned as captain of Team Canada at the 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championship for the first time since 2015 but his presence didn’t show up on the scoresheet in Canada’s 4-0 win.

Playing on a line with young forwards Adam Fantilli and Macklin Celebrini, Crosby was quiet throughout the night. He didn’t register a shot and wasn’t involved in any of the scoring plays.

Crosby last captained Canada at the 4 Nations Face-off in February this year, where he helped lead the team to gold. This time, the Penguins captain is looking to add another medal to his already historic international resume which includes Olympic, World Championship, World Junior, World Cup and 4 Nations golds.

Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan O’Reilly served as alternate captains in the game opener. Team Canada are set to play Latvia next on the weekend.

About the author

Anjum is an NHL reporter at Sportskeeda with over five years of professional experience in the spectator sports industry. Raised in Bahrain, Anjum grew up close to the Formula 1 and GP2 scene, but it was ice-sports that she truly had a chance to play at school.

Anjum prioritizes thorough research, fact-checking and verification of sources when reporting, and has worked for Oil on Whyte, Leafs Herald, the Nation of Blaugrana, Barca International Cules, FromTheBend, Last Word On Sports and NASA.

She got interested in ice hockey after watching the “MVP” trilogy as a second grader and has not gotten over the sport yet. Her favorite player is Alex Ovechkin, whose legendary one-timers live rent free in her heart. The iconic moment when Ovechkin reached 800 career goals with a hat trick in Chicago as the away crowd chanted “Ovi, Ovi” is probably her happiest memory from an ice-rink.

When not enjoying the game, Anjum can be found sailing, star-mapping or collaborating with fellow citizen scientists at NASA.

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Edited by Anjum Rajonno