The 4 Nations Face-Off kicked off on Wednesday night with an overtime thriller. Team Canada beat Team Sweden 4-3 in overtime in Montreal on Wednesday night to start the tournament. After the game, Canada forward Nathan MacKinnon had some thoughts on the ten-minute, three-on-three overtime. TSN's Pierre LeBrun caught up with the Colorado Avalanche star after the game.

“Nathan MacKinnon said no thanks to the idea of 10 minutes OT coming to league play,” LeBrun reported. “Seven minutes at most, he said. Said he was absolutely gassed tonight. And I think most star players feel the same way.”

MacKinnon was on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Mark Stone during the game and was leaned on during overtime. He took 32 shifts for nearly 20 minutes of ice time across the entire game, the third-most of any forward for Canada. So, exhaustion is understandable after a long game.

MacKinnon scored the first goal of the game less than a minute into the first period, capitalizing on a ridiculous Crosby pass. Canada benefits from elite talent at forward, which showed itself on Wednesday. That advantage will help in the ten-minute overtimes for this tournament against teams with less depth like Sweden.

If players do not like the ten-minute overtime, could it be off the table for the NHL?

Nathan MacKinnon's opinion may sway the future of NHL overtime

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Team Canada forward Nathan MacKinnon (29) skates against Team Sweden in the first period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre.
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The NHL currently has five-minute three-on-three overtime periods before ending games in the shootout. But a rising number of shootouts and the exciting nature of the overtimes have fans clamoring for extended overtimes. MacKinnon is willing to compromise to seven minutes, which was about the length of Wednesday's period, but not ten.

Ten-minute overtimes in NHL regular season games would benefit teams with deeper rosters like MacKinnon's Avalanche. But he knows his ice time would go up significantly if they made this move. So, after he took multiple shifts and had a few great looks on Wednesday, he dished out his opinion.

Canada won in overtime on a goal from Mitch Marner. It was Sidney Crosby's third assist of the game and sent Bell Centre into a frenzy after a tense third period. They are back in action on Saturday night against Team USA in what should be a tense game in Montreal. The Americans have a task at hand first, playing Team Finland on Thursday night. We will see if Canada is exhausted on Saturday after their wild overtime affair.