The 2016 World Cup of Hockey officially opened on Saturday afternoon in Toronto when Team USA faced off against Team Europe.
It only took five minutes for the first goal to get put on the board, and it went to team Europe thanks to an early Marian Gaborik goal.
The play all started in the neutral zone when Ryan McDonagh got caught up the ice leading to the two-on-one rush for Gaborik and Frans Nielsen.
Nielsen’s pass was perfect across the middle of the ice and set up an easy tap-in for Gaborik to beat his Los Angeles Kings teammate, Jonathan Quick.
Here is a look at the goal (GIF via @KyleWIIM)
Full play. I like this Nielsen guy. pic.twitter.com/2ULmbaFvTI
— Kyle M. (@KyleWIIM) September 17, 2016
Team Europe is, on paper, probably one of the weakest rosters in the tournament, but it still has a pretty impressive collection of NHL talent.
Gaborik himself has 386 career goals in the NHL and is a three-time 40-goal scorer.
Along with the assist on the goal, Nielsen has been one of the best players on the ice in the first period.