He made it 4-2 with a wrist shot at 17:56 of the second period. Drouin scored a goal early in the second period with the assistance of Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.
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In what was easily the most exciting game of the World Cup of Hockey thus far, Team North America fell 4-3 to a desperate Russian team that needed a win to remain in contention. If so, Team North America could be without arguably their best defenceman for the rest of the tournament. Sweden, Russia, and North America are tied with two points, and Finland, after one loss, is in fourth.
Once North America got its composure and the puck back, it continued to bombard Bobrovsky with shots. “We just wanted to win the game”, said Kuznetsov.
“I thought we looked unsure out there for the first time as a team”.
For the first time since they were constructed, the young North American defence was given a strong test, and they didn’t fare well under the constant pressure of the Russian attack.
Now, the question for the Finnish coaching staff is where they go in the net for the remainder of the tournament.
Last time we checked in on Russian Federation and Sweden they were getting rocked in exhibition play. “Slow reading, slow reacting and slow to the scoreboard”.
The World Cup of Hockey has brought Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews together on the same team for North America, and for that, we are grateful.
Russia’s goals in quick succession were “team goals”, McLellan said, but they also led to the end of goaltender Matt Murray’s night.
Coach Todd McLellan rolled his lines with impressive evenness, with every player seeing between 12 and 16 minutes of ice time. Well, Brandon Saad is a two time Stanley Cup victor, Matt Murray placed his name on the cup this past summer as the starter for the Penguins, and nearly everyone else on the roster has playoffs experience. The efficiency of speed and skill that worked in a win over Finland on Sunday stopped for a short period of time against high-powered Russian Federation, and it proved disastrous. They were chasing the puck all night in the defensive zone and were unable to handle the transition game of the young-star team. “We’ve got real good options (in goal)”. Russia, meanwhile, had a last-minute goal by Alex Ovechkin waved off in a frustrating 2-1 loss to Sweden on Sunday. In fact, Bobrovsky had to stop McDavid as the second penalty expired.
“Obviously we knew we can’t lose the game”, Russian captain Ovechkin said.
“I think for the most part we didn’t want to turn it into a track meet and we did that for about 10 minutes and it cost us the game probably”, said McDavid. Back to back, I think we played a solid second and our penalty-kill guys blocked the shots. “It would have been nice to get an extra save, and he (Murray) will probably tell you that”.
The details of the Ekblad’s injury are not fully known, but according to various reports he might have received a concussion after taking a hard hit late in the third period from Finland’s Leo Komarov. McDavid blamed himself and his teammates for failing to capitalize on an extended 5-on-3 power play. “Hopefully, teams don’t take us lightly”. Jacob Trouba replaced him, but Ekblad’s absence created a void of extra minutes that defensemen had to fill. Team Sweden doesn’t offer the same speed threat as Team North America, but they’re a much more experienced club.
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John Gibson came in to replace Murray in net.
