Team Canada went into elimination play at the IIHF Men's World Championship feeling pretty good about themselves, as they clinched the top seed because of their tournament-best 6-0-1 performance in preliminary round play.
But their first-round opponent was ready for the challenge, and they shocked the hockey world.
On Thursday, Team Denmark pulled off the upset of the tournament, eliminating Team Canada in the final few minutes of regulation to take home a 2-1 win and advance to the semifinal round. Canada led, 1-0, within the final three minutes of the game and surrendered the game-winning goal with just 48 seconds left on the clock.
Denmark will face Team Switzerland in the semifinal round.
Sidney Crosby notched an assist in the loss, and goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 31 of Denmark's 33 shots on goal.
No scoring happened until the third period despite Canada pushing heavily in the first two. After outshooting Denmark 18-4 in the first period and having two power play opportunities - without anything to show for it - the Canadians received three consecutive power plays during the middle frame but could not come through.
Then, a little more than five minutes into the third period, Canada finally broke through. Crosby did some work down low before feeding the puck to Travis Konecny, who was in the hashmarks in the left circle. Konecny gave it back to Crosby at the bottom of the left circle, who found Travis Sanheim in the low slot area.
Canada held onto that 1-0 until Winnipeg Jets pending-unrestricted free agent star Nikolaj Ehlers - with 2:17 left in regulation - tied the score at 1-1 with a shot through traffic from the left point.
Then, with those 48 seconds left on the clock, Nick Olesen put the dagger in the beast that is Canada, as he was wide open at the net front and took a feed from Nicklas Jensen. Olesen deked out Binnington, forehand to backand, and sent the hometown crowd into a frenzy.
The loss marked former Penguins' goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury's final time suiting up for a professional hockey game, as he backed up Binnington in net. It also marked Crosby's first career loss in the quarterfinal round of international play, as his previous low was fourth place in the 2006 World Championship.
According to Puck Empire, Denmark is the only country to have a .500 or better record against Crosby in international play.
3 Unbreakable Sidney Crosby International Stats
It's no secret that <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/">Pittsburgh Penguins</a> captain Sidney Crosby has seen ample success as 'Captain Canada' throughout his storied career.
Photo Credit: Hockey Canada on X
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