Team Canada extended its winning streak in best-on-best events to 14 straight, dating back to a 5-3 loss to U.S. in the early rounds of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic men’s hockey tournament. Russia’s top offensive weapon – winger Alex Ovechkin – had hardly touched the puck all night, and had yet to as much as attempt a shot on net.
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“You see plays like that, that is where the leadership comes in”.
That was until Crosby went to work.
“In the last five minutes of the second period, if we finish the second period with a [lead] it would be a different game”, he said.
“This talented group of star forwards has contributed to our national story beyond the goals they’ve scored and the trophies they’ve won”, Canada Post President and CEO Deepak Chopra said. Crosby has seven points (2-5) in those games (1-2 in this one) while Ovechkin has none.
Carey Price was up to some of his usual sneaky antics in the game, and it was glorious. None of Russia’s extra-man chances were as good as any of those three shorthanded bids from Canada. “He gave us a chance”.
Kucherov’s shot on goal was the first for Russian Federation in a span of 10 minutes and 44 seconds.
“We didn’t want to make a mistake and give them an opportunity to take the lead”, said Ovechkin.
Marchand scored the tying goal for Canada, and he netted the goal that put them ahead for good, too.
Russian Federation went in front at 16:24, when Evgeny Kunetsov moved down the slot and knocked a feed from Ivan Telegin, who was behind the goal line, out of the air and past Price.
A two goal lead was nice, but they were still looking to add to it. That changed very quickly when Tavares gained the Russian zone, used a toe drag to create a lane, and unleashed a snipe to make it 5-2 for his country.
The six nondenominated “P” permanent stamps indefinitely pay Canada’s basic domestic letter rate, now 85¢, and are available along with a souvenir sheet portraying all six, Canada Post official first-day covers, and hockey cards with a $1.80 design mimicking collectible hockey cards. He was equal to the task, making sure that absolutely nothing would come easy for the Russians. Russian Federation still produces artistic hockey players; just not almost enough. “We had that little lapse where they got a couple lucky bounces and they got a couple goals, but we stayed positive, and we still knew we were going to win that game”.
Former Red Wings great Steve Yzerman, along with Sidney Crosby and four other former Canadian hockey greats are being immortalized on their own postage stamps. Of course, Canada with its ideal attack and defense is the main favorite not only of this particular semifinal game, but of the whole tournament as well. It’s hard to score goals when you’re on the wrong side of the ice, and Canada spent long stretches in the offensive zone, keeping Ovechkin and the unsafe Russian forwards a safe distance from goalie Carey Price.
Datsyuk made it look as if he had the puck on a string and was among the best at knocking it away from opponents. The Russian goaltender was spectacular over the first two periods, turning down quality chance after quality chance. He wasn’t letting in any stinkers, so there wasn’t much to legitimately criticize at all. In the 3 though after a closely contested game goals were scored by Brad Marchand, Corey Perry and John Tavares.
In all, Canada had 47 shots on goal.
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This tournament, Canada has been a dominant force. They were by far the most exciting team, and a win over Canada would’ve been the greatest moment of those young players’ careers, but at least with Canada vs. Russia, everyone in the crowd knew who to cheer for.
