The team opened the World Cup with a surprising 3-0 win over the U.S and also beat Sweden in pre-tournament play on September 14.
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Canada’s Steven Stamkos is the only Lightning player left in the tournament.
It has been nearly a mystery as to how the Canadian coach has kept the same lineups for multiple games, considering most teams do not have that kind of chemistry amongst the players, and definitely not consistently for more than one game.
Team Europe, which is made up of players not from Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic or Russian Federation have come together quickly in this tournament. After all, it was Team Canada that beat Team Sweden in the 2014 Sochi gold medal game.
Hoo boy, this game started with as much energy as an 8:00AM math lecture.
It looked as if it might end up that way even before the puck dropped.
20 seconds in and Tomas Tatar had a nice drive to the net around Anton Stralman.
“Yes and no”, said forward Gabriel Landeskog.
Anze Kopitar had the best chance of the opening period for Europe.
In overtime, Tatar’s original shot on goal was stopped but he got a second whack at the puck and knocked it in. They can sit back and take chances when they get them.
Whatever Team Europe might lack in numbers it hopes to make up for with its cohesion.
It opened the event created by the NHL and NHL Players’ Association by stunning the US and beating the Czech Republic before losing to Canada 4-1 in the preliminary round. He grabbed a loose a puck in the right faceoff circle and slung a pass through skates and sticks to Marchand cross-ice, his shot beating Bobrovsky. The score stood after a video review. This sequence includes four victories at the World Cup, the six victories in Sochi and signed four triumphs at the Vancouver Games after the loss to the U.S. in the preliminary round. Will this be the last chance for the amorphous blob of a team to do so? The Europeans hadn’t scored a powerplay goal yet in the tournament and that fact didn’t change here or a few minutes later when Filip Forsberg took a seat for interference. Europe can’t match that, but neither could any other team in this tournament. And if I’m really being honest, both teams looked more unsafe on the penalty kill than they did with the man advantage. Lundqvist denied Marian Hossa and Tobias Reider in quick succession.
Tatar’s victor went into the net after a centering pass by Zuccarello glanced off his skate, and Sweden challenged the play. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN beginning at 6 p.m. MT. Tats shot the puck, scooped up the rebound that Lundqvist gave up and didn’t waste any time before burying the puck. “It was just a matter of taking over the game”. That’s the second time today he’s walked Stralman, in case you were wondering. “We continually find ways to do that and that’s what is special about this team”.
Though Kucherov managed to find the back of the net, Alex Ovechkin was held off the scoreboard, managing just a single shot in almost 21 minutes. The European head coach will have to rely on the foursome of Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg, Roman Josi and Andrej Sekera to combat not only Crosby, but Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Matt Duchene and an endless list of stars.
Exactly what Europe’s game was going to be was forced to evolve on the go. They combined for three goals and four assists on the evening.
Just 2:31 into the frame Sweden struck first. But Halak kept Europe’s dreams alive with some great goaltending. Had we done that, it wouldn’t have been a 2-2 game. Most people would have loved to see them make it to the finals, but it simply wasn’t meant to be this year. Tatar got the puck in deep, Kopitar threw it around the boards from the right to left side. “And if that happens when I’m old and retired, I hope that it was a part of this tournament that did that”.
Canada remains a heavy favourite against Europe, though, and faced only mild resistance in marching to the final. This is going to be fun.
“It’s a really short tournament; there’s game after game”, Tatar said.
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Tomas Tatar was a beast in this game. He has three goals and seven points in four games. He was all over the place out there today and seemed risky all afternoon. “There’s a lot of magic just happening naturally”.
