Sweden scored two goals in a 2:11 span of the second period and then withstood a furious rally by Russian Federation to take a 2-1 win in its opening game of the World Cup of Hockey on Sunday.
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It started when Matthews stripped Russian captain Alex Ovechkin of the puck in the Team NA end and ended when he tapped in a ideal pass from McDavid to give the North Americans their first lead on Matthews first ACC goal.
Ekblad was seemingly hurt in North America’s 4-1 win over Finland on Sunday when Leo Komarov shoved him into the boards. Team Russia’s Vladislav Namestnikov (90) scores against Team North America goaltender Matthew Murray (30) during second period World Cup of Hockey action in Toronto on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016.
The key moment came when Sergei Bobrovsky stopped McDavid on a breakaway that would have made the score 2-0 Canada at 5:23 of the second period.
North America’s Morgan Rielly and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins then scored to set up a thrilling finish but with victory in sight Russian Federation dug in deep. Defenseman Colton Parayko led the way with two points, picking up assists on Gaudreau and MacKinnon’s goals.
Connor McDavid scooped up the puck near Team North America’s bench and flicked off Pavel Datsyuk, one of the best defensive forwards of all-time, like a bug on his visor before feeding Auston Matthews for an early goal of the year candidate.
“We had so many chances, off the post, one over the net there, off the goalie laying in the crease”, McDavid said. He missed Team North American’s game against Russian Federation on Monday.
“We looked unsure out there for the first time as a team”, McLellan admitted of the fateful 6:14. North America GM Peter Chiarelli said Ekblad will be evaluated and continue his rehab with Panthers team doctors.
The optimist will say Team North America showed moxie in the face of adversity for the first time, with Shayne Gostisbehere ringing the tying goal off the post in the dying seconds of regulation.
Murray was on the wrong end of a young team’s young mistakes.
“Everyone has hockey sense so we’re just trying to find each other and not overpass, that’s the main thing”, McDavid said. “That’s something we’ve got to clean up”.
“I’ve played Russian Federation now enough times now to know how streaky they are”, said North America’s captain Connor McDavid. Back to back, I think we played a solid second and our penalty-kill guys, (Ivan) Telegin, blocked the shots, Bobrovsky. “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”. That 5-on-3 late in the game, that’s when we need to be able to do something.
Watching North America develop while giving fans a taste of its tremendous potential has been the most exciting part of the World Cup so far.
North America was without top defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who McLellan called day to day with an upper-body injury.
“I think some hockey god got on our side, and we just got good luck”, said Kuznetsov, who made a “FIFA” inspired wing-flapping celebration after his goal.
North America will now await Tuesday’s Sweden-Finland matchup, then play their own final game against the Swedes on Thursday to see if they advance from this three-game round-robin and earn the right to play on the weekend.
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Once North America got its composure and the puck back, it continued to bombard Bobrovsky with shots.
