In a game that came down to the very end, Russian Federation outlasted the young Team North America for a 4-3 victory to keep their World Cup hopes very much alive and make things very interesting in Group B.
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Austin Matthews started the party for Team North America, but in a span of six minutes in the second period, the Russians put an end to the fun netting four goals to open up a 4-1 lead. Bobrovsky, playing in his second game in as many days, made 43 saves including 18 in the third period to help Russian Federation secure the much-needed victory.
Team Russia’s Nikita Zaitsev (22) hits Team North America’s Nathan MacKinnon (29) into the boards during first period World Cup of Hockey action in Toronto on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016.
“When you’re a group of young players, you’re looking for somebody just to take charge and settle it down, maybe get a shift or two under your belt, and we didn’t get that quick enough”, McLellan said. “We’ve got real good options (in goal)”.
That detour has now thrown the tournament standings into a tizzy.
North America won 4-3 in overtime. That means there would be a four-way tie with one game to play if Finland beats the Swedes today in regulation. That win means US must beat Canada tomorrow or they are out of the tournament. And the explosive to and fro that had been anticipated by these two high-octane teams was delivered with Team North America closing the deficit to one with goals by Morgan Reilly late in the second period and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the third. As McDavid rocketed towards the Russian goal, defenceman Alexei Emelin was caught in the middle and Matthews, arriving at the other side of the net, knocked in a flawless backhand feed as Emelin desperately tried to get a stick in the way. Now, facing two tremendous teams in back-to-back games, Bobrovsky has 70 saves on 75 shots and looks completely locked in. “And that was the most important shot of my life”.
McDavid! What a play!
Said McDavid, “We just turned it into a track meet”. “Our power play has to get better, myself included in that for sure”. His play during the 5-on-3 was likewise key.
They did get back up to speed, but their inexperience was evident on a three-on-one later in the period.
In the World Cup, however, Team North America is playing against seasoned opponents – and more than holding its own.
Before the game was six minutes old, Auston Matthews scored his first goal in what will soon be his National Hockey League home after Connor McDavid swept by Detroit Red Wings legend Pavel Datsyuk in the neutral zone to set up a 2-on-1.
Team North America has classified Ekblad’s ailment as an upper-body injury.
The two points assures North America (2-1-0) is still alive in the eight-team tournament, but Russian Federation holds the tiebreaker in Group B and can eliminate the under-24 squad and take a spot in the semifinals if it beats Finland (0-2-0) on Thursday.
Today’s games are Finland (Barkov, Jokinen) versus Sweden at 3:00 p.m. and US versus Canada at 8 p.m. We won’t say Team Canada would have been stronger if it could have included Connor McDavid or defenseman Aaron Ekblad because Team Canada is stacked already.
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Team USA would have been better with players such as North America’s Johnny Gaudreau, a South Jersey native.
