Canada blows out Russia to advance to semifinal against Slovakia
Canada 7 Russia 3
VANCOUVER — Tough, hard, relentless. Team Canada was on its game Wednesday night.
Taking their final warmup turns in front of a raucous Canada Hockey Place crowd, the Canadian players were surging with adrenalin — and confidence. Everything had finally fallen into place with line changes, the team was back in high gear and ready for the Russians.
It was time to turn it on.
“We were at the boiling point as soon as that puck dropped to start the game,” said forward Eric Staal. “We were really firing with a lot of energy and the atmosphere was unbelievable and that adds to it. It was a lot of fun out there.”
It was also one-way traffic for most of the night as the Canadians sent Russia packing with an impressive 7-3 win.
Canada was rampant from the get-go. There was a more physical element to the team’s game — Alex Ovechkin received a particularly rough ride early — and Ryan Getzlaf opened the scoring at 2:21, nearly getting knocked over by an exuberant Dan Boyle who did all the work on the play.
“They came out like gorillas out of a cage,” backup goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov said.
And it didn’t stop there.
“I think we were not ready for the first five minutes of the game,” Ovechkin said of the Canadians. “When we woke up it was too late.”
Canada will face Slovakia in Friday’s semifinal. The Slovaks advanced with a shocking 4-3 upset over heavily favoured Sweden in Wednesday’s late quarter-final.
Despite the lopsided win, the Canadian team knows there’s more work to do. But after a slow start, the Canadians are feeling good about themselves.
“We like our team, we like our opportunity and there’s pressure on us because we feel we have a chance,” said Canadian coach Mike Babcock. “To me, that’s a really good thing.”
This was the kind of Canadian hockey that fans had been yearning for since executive director Steve Yzerman named his team in December — a physical, relentless attack combined with speed and skill.
“We wanted to play with an edge, and we wanted to grind their (defence),” said forward Corey Perry. “Play physical, that’s how we’re built. Play a skating game, and you don’t back down.”
After a slow start to the tournament, Yzerman calmly reassured the nation it was coming. His team delivered on the promise by dispatching Germany and Russia on back-to-back days by a combined score of 15-5. The win over Russia was especially satisfying for another jam-packed house that came dressed for the occasion, creating a sea of red-and-white that only seems to grow with each passing game.
An interesting subplot heading into the game was the matchup between Sidney Crosby and Ovechkin, but it never materialized. Neither player managed to find the scoresheet and Ovechkin’s presence on the ice was virtually non-existent — as it has been off the ice during a tournament where he avoided doing media interviews as much as possible.
Instead, some of the lesser stars took the spotlight.
Perry scored twice for Canada while Getzlaf, Rick Nash, Dan Boyle, Brenden Morrow and Shea Weber added singles. Dmitri Kalinin, Maxim Afinogenov and Sergei Gonchar replied for the overmatched Russians.
The breaking point for them came early, just under 13 minutes into the first period. Nash darted into the Russian zone and took a beautiful backhand pass from Jonathan Toews before lifting the puck over Evgeni Nabokov, giving Canada a 3-0 lead — and a dream start.
A stunned Russian bench never completely recovered even though Kalinin got them on the board shortly after coach Vyacheslav Bykov called a timeout.
“It was a very strong team today playing against us,” Bykov said through a translator. “We couldn’t adjust to the pressure by the Canadian team. We tried to play different ways, but everything failed.”
The Canadian team simply seemed to gel better than the Russians — perhaps a side benefit of having to play an extra playoff game against Germany.
Toews was paired with Nash and Mike Richards and the unit was given the assignment of shutting down Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, passing with flying colours. Perry, Getzlaf and Morrow formed a grind line that brought all kinds of energy against Russia while Crosby, Nash and Jarome Iginla looked good in their second game together.
It was the most lopsided meeting between the international hockey rivals in recent memory and gave Canada some measure of revenge. The Russians ended Canada’s Olympic hopes in the quarter-final stage four years ago in Turin, Italy; this time, Canada returned the favour at the same point, sending Russia to its worst-ever finish at the Games.
The Olympic tournament began with many predicting the two top-ranked hockey nations might collide in the final, but each struggled out of the gate and lost a game in the preliminary round. It brought them together sooner and Canada answered the bell.
“We always talk Canada-Russia and the rivalry,” said Crosby. “You feel it more than ever in this building. I thought we all responded well to that. We came out hard and energized, part of that is the crowd, and we went after them from the start. That’s the difference.”
There was a party-like atmosphere in the building during a final 20 minutes that were completely free of tension for Canadian hockey fans. The crowd derisively chanted “Ooooovi!” — one of the few reminders No. 8 was participating in the game — and showered hometown hero Roberto Luongo with love after stopping Malkin on a late breakaway.
When the final buzzer sounded, fans flooded out of the arena to join a massive street party.
Notes: Staal went down in the third period after slamming into the boards, but returned for his regular shift ... The only other time Canada has beaten a Russian team in Olympic play is 1960 ... Martin Brodeur once again dressed as Luongo’s backup ... The seven goals against was the second most a Russian team has ever allowed at the Olympics ... Ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir got a rousing ovation when they were shown on the scoreboard — complete with shiny gold medals.
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