Team Canada was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the World Championship in stunning fashion Thursday thanks to a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory for Denmark.
Canada, led by the duo of NHL superstars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, had rolled through the tournament, suffering only a shootout loss to Finland while easily handling the field.
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The Canadians, however, shockingly met their match in the quarterfinals.
Most of the game was a scoreless tie featuring a goaltending duel between Canada’s Jordan Binnington and Denmark’s Frederik Dichow.
Order seemed to be restored five minutes into the third period as Crosby set up Travis Sanheim for the game’s initial goal and a 1-0 Canada lead.
Canada held that lead until Denmark’s Nikolaj Ehlers scored with 2:17 remaining in regulation to even the score. Ehlers’ shot from the left point came with Denmark’s goaltender pulled.
The score didn’t stay tied for long.
Nick Olesen scored what will go down as one of the most memorable goals in Denmark’s hockey history when he banged a rebound past Binnington for the winner.
GAME. CHANGER. Nick Olesen sends @dkishockey through! 🇩🇰💥 #MensWorlds #IIHF pic.twitter.com/en6PBK4F9I
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 22, 2025
Dichow was the game’s star, stopping 39 of Canada’s 40 shots to backstop the major upset.
Canada outshot Denmark 40-33.
While Canada wasn’t showcasing its Olympic roster, its team still featured the likes of Crosby, MacKinnon and the very impressive Macklin Celebrini, not to mention Binnington, who led Canada to victory in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.
This also officially concludes Marc-André Fleury’s hockey career. He was Binnington’s backup in this game and confirmed last week that this tournament will mark the end of his career.
(Photo of Dean Evason and the Canada bench: Bo Amstrup / Getty Images)
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Josh Yohe is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. Josh joined The Athletic in 2017 after covering the Penguins for a decade, first for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and then for DKPittsburghSports.com. Follow Josh on Twitter @JoshYohe_PGH
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