IIHF Canada Update - May 3rd, 2011

Final Score in OT:  Canada 4 – 3 Switzerland

Quick Note: 

I was only able to watch the 2nd half of the game due to a Final.  Luckily, Canada was nice enough to wait until I got home to do anything of much importance.  

Also:  This game airs again tonight at 10 PM MST on VS.  It's a pretty good one.  Go watch Canada win.  

CANADA LINES:

Neal/Duchene/Nash

Skinner/Taveres/Stewart

Kane/Spezza/Eberle

Ladd/ Zajac/Clutterbuck

Phaneuf/Burns

Schenn/Methot

Gragnani/Pietrangelo

Scalzo/Colaiacovo

Reimer

Dubnyk (did not play)

Roster and Stats

Roster

Game 3 Stats (Today’s Game)

Game 2 Stats (MAY 1) 9 - 1 WIN over France

Game 1 Stats (APR 29) 4 - 1 WIN over Belarus

CANADA GOALS:

GOAL 1:  Eberle, Equal Strength, 31:57 (8:03 remaining in the 2nd)

This was the end of a really good shift by Canada.  What made it so good?  Oh, just this kid named Duchene.  He shot the puck 2 or 3 times, snagged more than one rebound, controlled the puck in the corner, and made a few good passes.  He really was the quarterback that made the goal happen even though he didn’t officially get the assist.  The puck was bouncing around a lot in front of the goalie, but Kane got a hold of it and tipped it across to Eberle (on the right side below the dots).  He slipped it in through the legs of Matt Duchene (who was screening for him) and past the goalie Genoni to put Canada on the board 1 – 1.

GOAL 2:  Taveres, Equal Strength, 36:51 (3:09 remaining in the 2nd)

Stewy handled the puck down the right side until he got to the blueline, then centered it to Tavares just about the right faceoff dot. Tavares touches it, but a Swiss defender accidently tipped it into the air and past the goalie while he was trying to steal it. Tavares still got credit for the goal.  For some reason, they took away Stewy’s assist, but it was his pass that made it happen.  Canada 2 – 1 Switzerland.    

GOAL 3:  Stewart, Equal Strength, 56:46 (3:14 remaining in the 3rd)

The play started and ended with Stewart.  He shot the puck as he was coming down the left side – no go.  Zajac and Ladd smacked it a few times in front of the net before Zajac got a rebound and kicked it out to Stewy (who had in the meantime circled around the net) just below the left side dot. As he was falling down!, he chipped it up and in.  Canada back on top 3 – 2. 

GOAL 4:  Petrangelo, Equal Strength, 64:14 (0:46 remaining in OT)

Zajac fed it to Petrangelo, who was right at the left faceoff dot.  He fired off a little wrister and put it in upstairs.  Stewart was down bothering the goalie, so that might have had something do with it.  Pretty, simple, OT winner.  Cue the Canadian National Anthem. 

THOUGHTS:

No one is going to be able to compete with Canada’s star power in this tournament, although someone forgot to tell Switzerland.  They just kept fighting back.  They took advantage of a momentary weakness in Canada’s D to tie up the game (Ambuhl, Equal Strength, 58:38 (1:22 left in the 3rd)) when Canada thought they had the game wrapped up.  They got owned by the guys in red during the second, but found a way to come back twice in the third. 

Chris Stewart really found his Goddamn today and ended the game with a goal.  He was penciled in for 2 assists as well (on Taveres’s and Pietrangelo’s goals), but those were later taken away for reasons I can’t quite figure out.  Eberle got the nod as the top star, but I think Stewart really was the best player for Canada today.  I <3 EJ lots, but I’m sad we gave Stewy up.  He really made a difference out there today.    

But so did Duchene.  The stat sheet might not show it, but #92 played well.  I suppose it’s expected by your #1 center, but he looked better than he has for the last few months in the burgundy and blue.  It probably had something to do with the fact he actually had world-class wings to pass to – he and the Captain, Rick Nash, have a bit of chemistry developing.  It’s not to Duchene Wing proportions yet, but give it a few more games and it probably will be.  But even without Nash there, almost every time he was on the ice, he was shooting the puck or finding someone else to shoot the puck.  Probably half of Canada’s best scoring chances in the 2nd and 3rd came off of either Duchene’s passes or Duchene’s stick.  He made his presence known on the faceoff dot as well and made a few really strong defensive plays.  But I was probably the most surprised by how well he handled the puck in the corners today.  He single-handedly made their defenders look slow, both in speed and mental capabilities.  His puck-handling is getting better, and he was probably the main reason why that first goal was able to happen.  He might turn into a Sakic-type after all.  I wish he would have gotten a point – I thought he had on Eberle’s goal – but even without a tally on the sheets, he was impressive today.  YAY DUCHENE! 

Overall, Canada looked pretty good once again.  Like stated above, they have the most stacked team in the tourney and are definitely the best based on pure skill.  There were a few slip-ups, including getting caught back on their heels at the beginning of the third and the defensive breakdown that lead to Switzerland’s last goal, but most of the what I was able to watch was dominated by Canada.  They almost doubled Switzerland’s SOG (61 Canada to 33 SUI) and will easily go far in this tourney.  However, I don’t think they are unbeatable – Switzerland proved that.  They managed their penalties well today though (they only took 2 to Switzerland’s 5), which has been one of their Achilles’ heels in the past couple games.  And even though Reimer let in 3 goals (I didn’t see the first), the second was an unstoppable one from the point through traffic (du Bois, Equal Strenght, 48:08 (11:52 remaining in the 3rd)), and he was left out to dry by his D on the third.  He also had a great stop on a penalty shot in the 3rd period – he read the shooter so well he made the save look effortless.  He’s a good goalie, and his team has confidence in him.  It shows in their play. 

NEXT GAME: Friday at 8:15AM MST vs TBD. 

TBD is the 2nd place team in the C group, so it’s either the USA (2-0-0), NOR (1-0-1, and the most likely candidate unless USA loses tomorrow), SWE (1-1-0), or AUT (0-2-0).