The opening game for the defending gold medalists from Canada hardly went according to plan. That is, if you are a Canadian. A 3-1 victory hardly looked as dominant through the final score line.
Nothing short of a dominating, one-sided thrashing would have been acceptable for the masses and media of the hockey-crazy nation. The game was a solid effort and clearly showed that the Canadian team has some chemistry to work on if they are to defend their title as Olympic champion.
While their North American neighbors to the south dispatched a much more polished opponent in Slovakia 7-1, a similar outcome was expected against Norway. With only one NHL player on the Norway roster, the Canadians were certainly in a position to make a statement win. They outshot, out hit and generally outskated the Norwegians, but the end result was a more efficient, businesslike and modest result.
On Sunday the round robin potion of the tournament wraps with Canada taking on Finland. Though Michael Grabner notched himself a hat trick for the Austrians, Finland ended up pounding the Austrian net for eight goals of their own in an 8-4 spanking. The strength of Finland is clearly in goal where they are literally matched in strength and depth at the goaltender position.
The Finns don’t possess as much obvious firepower as the Canadians, but the combination of Tuukka Rask and Antti Niemi create he best one-two tandem in the tournament. The biggest matchup will be whether or not the Finns can slow down the talented North Americans on offense.
Key matchup: Canada’s top line: Chris Kunitz, Sidney Crosby and Jeff Carter vs. Tuukka Rask
The natural chemistry between Crosby and Kunitz is obvious since they are teammates in Pittsburgh, but Carter is the sniper of the three. If he can find his groove against Austria on Friday, the Canadians could be too much to handle even for Rask. A sluggish start against a lesser opponent in Norway will certainly have coach Mike Babcock looking hard at his lineup and we might see some new combinations on offense and defense.
Predicted outcome: Since it is still the round-robin portion, we won’t see the urgency that the medal rounds produce. Both teams could feasibly be playing for nothing more than their second round opponent since each nation is expected to win their second game against Norway and Austria respectively. The game has the potential to be wide open with plenty of talent on each side of the ice. Look for a 6-4 Canadian win as they advance to the medal round with a perfect record.