Sidney Crosby loses first IIHF game since 2010 Olympics

With Canada losing 2-1 in a shootout to Finland on Monday at the World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, it marked the first time Crosby has lost a IIHF-sanctioned game since the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

That loss came in the round robin as Canada lost 5-3 to the U.S. Crosby also lost while captaining Canada at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off last February, but the 4 Nations was an NHL tournament, not having any affiliation with the IIHF.

The loss came after Patrik Puistola and Eeli Tolvanen scored in the shootout for Finland, while Kent Johnson did for Canada.

Canada opened the scoring in the second period when Noah Dobson fed Ryan O’Reilly with a pass while shorthanded, with O’Reilly scoring on his Nashville Predators teammate Jussi Saros to make it 1-0.

Midway through the third period, Puistola tipped a point shot past Marc-Andre Fleury to tie it 1-1.

The game was one of the more entertaining of the tournament. Daily Faceoff analyst Steven Ellis said Canada and Finland “is one of my favorite rivalries in hockey.”

“No matter the tournament, no matter the stakes, they seem to have excellent matchups that go either way,” Ellis wrote on social media. “Today was another example. Tremendous hockey game.”