Men’s hockey team keeps Gold in Canada!!!
The start to the Gold medal game was great for Team Canada in the Sochi 2014 Olympics but Sweden came back and controlled the puck for the next 5 or 6 minutes trying a lot of stretch passes to pull back Canada’s defence.
It was a chess match between the bluelines because Canada’s defence didn’t want to jump into the play and give up any breakaways. Canada had to rely on the forwards to score and they did just that as Jonathan Toews tipped in a pass from Jeff Carter at 12:55 of the first period after a 3 on 2 break. Shots were 12-11 Canada after one.
The second period had Canada start to take over the game, and create chance after chance. Sweden’s defence were pressing hard and it finally cost them as Sidney Crosby poked the puck away at his own blueline and got a breakaway and scored unassisted to make it 2-0 Canada at 15:43 of the second. Shots were 11-9 for Canada.
Sweden’s pinching was dangerous because any odd man rush for Canada on any of the lines was a potential great scoring chance.
Martin St.Louis was terrific in this game, buzzing around getting chances and creating chances. If it wasn’t for Henrik Lunqvist this game would have been out of reach early.
Chris Kunitz intercepts a pass and fires a laser off the crossbar and in to make it 3-0 Canada at 9:04, after immense pressure for most of the third. That’s the way it would stay for the third 3-0 Canada final.
Sweden was outshot in the third 13-4 and 36-24 overall. Sweden had it in Canada’s zone for maybe 30 seconds for the first 10 minutes of the third. Canada had a smothering defence and kept the play in Sweden’s end for most of the game.
Carey Price was a rock in net and what can you say about Canada’s defence. That team was probably the best team Canada has ever put together defensively. Players like St.Louis, P.K. Subban, Matt Duchene, and Rick Nash had to leave their egos at the door and play limited action but they did it and it paid off. Congratulations to all of the players that went to Sochi and kept the Gold right here in Canada for Men’s and Women’s hockey.