Shaky at times against China, Canada must step up to beat Sweden in the quarterfinals
Head coach Claude Julien may want to show his Canadian men’s hockey team the band from the 2014 Olympic gold medal game before Wednesday’s quarterfinals against Sweden at the games in Beijing.
An assistant coach under Mike Babcock in Sochi, Julien saw the Canadians put the clamps on the Swedes in a 3-0 victory when Carey Price had to make just 24 saves, which completed a convincing run to gold for the Reds and Whites.
A similar effort – albeit minus NHL players – would come in handy if Canada plans to try to make a real bid to win Olympic gold for the first time since that day in Russia eight years ago.
Based on Tuesday’s performance, it seems like a stretch.
A 7-2 victory for pedestrians against the heavily over-matched China on Tuesday sends Canada to the final eight for a match against the Swedes on Wednesday at 8:30 ET.
Canada’s second win over the host team in as many days – the first win was 5-0 on Sunday – was expected to be a formality. But the Canadians looked horrible outside the starting gate and were lucky that they were not behind after giving up two outbursts and a penalty kick in the first six minutes – Spencer Foo was stopped on the latter by Matt Tomkins.
The Canadian goalkeeper had to make several saves in the first period and maintained a 2-1 lead. The only goal he gave up in the initial 20 minutes came after a poor giveaway of the first overall pick Owen Power.
At the end of the first, the equally strong China goalkeeper Jeremy Smith was injured and got help from the ice. TV cameras showed him being driven out of the locker room on a stretcher during the break.
Paris O’Brien replaced Smith and was not as good. Although the Canadians played better after the first period, they did not drive China off the rink in any way.
Canada was dominant in powerplay and scored four points. That is the main reason why the match was not closer to a Chinese team that made its Olympic debut and with 11 Canadians – the squad uses basically the same lineup as a China-based KHL club team that is last in that league’s position.
Adam Tambellini and Jordan Weal each scored two goals for Canada, while Eric Staal, Jack McBain and Eric O’Dell added singles.
Cory Kane, from California, scored both goals for China.
Sweden said goodbye to the quarterfinals as the best second place team in the three groups, and ended with two victories (3-2 over Latvia and 4-1 over Slovakia) and a 4-3 overtime loss against Finland after blowing a 3-0 lead in third period against its biggest rival.
Canada’s only loss in four games was a 4-2 setback against the United States, but all its wins have come against light competition – China twice and a German team with a win that was beaten by a 4-0 loss to Slovakia on Tuesday .
Lucas Wallmark, who has 187 games of NHL experience, leads the Swedish attack with four goals.
A key for Canada could be to draw penalties. Sweden has the worst expulsion percentage in the 12-team tournament (60 percent) after giving up four goals in 10 opportunities.
The good news for Canada – and everyone else, really – is that the tournament seems to be wide open.
The Russians are the reigning Olympic champions, but have not been consistent in Beijing – 1-0 and 2-0 victories over Switzerland and Denmark respectively, along with a 6-5 loss in overtime against the Czech Republic.
Germany has made an early exit after winning silver in Pyeongchang four years ago.
Canada took bronze at the recent Olympics – also played without NHL players – and won last year’s World Cup.
Plucky Denmark has been the best story in the tournament and reached the quarterfinals in its Olympic debut. Still, the Danes will be heavy underdogs against the Russians in the quarterfinals.
The Americans were the only team with a perfect result in the preliminary round. They brought with them a young team that chose to focus on the college ranks.
If their success continues and Canada fails to run, many will question Canadians’ strategy of going heavier with Europe-based professionals.
OTHER RESULTS IN QUALITY AREAS
Slovakia 4, Germany 0
Denmark 3, Latvia 2
Switzerland 4, Czech Republic 2
QUARTER FINAL SCHEDULE (WEDNESDAY)
Nr. 1 USA vs. Nr. 8 Slovakia, 23:10 ET (Tuesday)
Nr. 3 Russia vs. Nr. 6 Denmark, at 1 ET
No. 2 Finland vs. No. 10 Switzerland, 03:40 ET
Nr. 4 Sweden vs. Nr. 5 Canada, 08:30 ET
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