Team Canada steamrolled Team USA to clinch their spot in the World Cup of Hockey semifinals. Here’s a full recap of how the game played out.
USA vs. Canada is supposed to be a great hockey rivalry, but Canada has dominated it for the most part. And a game like this makes you question whether a match-up this one-sided can still be considered a rivalry.
It may have just been the second game of the World Cup, but Team USA knew their game against Canada was a must win. For a team that had yet to score a goal, simply doing that was a tall order against the wall that is Carey Price. Canada, meanwhile, was looking to win this game since it would book them a spot in the semifinals.
USA got off to a perfect start, as Ryan McDonagh opened the scoring four minutes in. But that lead lasted all of 90 seconds, as Matt Duchene tied the game. Then 14 seconds later, Corey Perry gave Canada the lead. What was a close game turned into a two-goal lead by the end of the first period when Duchene added his second tally.
USA’s defense hasn’t been up to par in the World Cup, but even the best defensive players in the world couldn’t stop an offense this explosive. Trailing by just two goals, they were still in the game, if only barely. They started the second with a better forecheck, but Canada had a plethora of players waiting to break out on an outlet pass.
And because Canada had so much offensive pressure, USA’s struggles weren’t going to get much better. John Tavares showed off some beautiful stick-handling, then threw it on net. His shot was deflected off of Patrice Bergeron’s skate, then McDonagh’s, skipping past Quick with credit going to the Boston Bruins center.
The problem with USA was that their World Cup roster was built to be an extremely physical team. That was evident in their total “hit chart,” as well as the fact that they hired John Tortorella as their bench boss. That was done to combat Canada’s speed and skill, but it didn’t effect them at all. It came down to coaching, and Mike Babcock is light years ahead of Tortorella. In what was supposed to be a best-on-best tournament, the Americans left a lot of talent at home.
The only silver lining for USA is that they will get guys like Jack Eichel, Johnny Gaudreau and Auston Matthews for their next tournament. Hopefully a result like this will be a wake-up call to overhaul their personnel. But Canada dominates hockey just like USA dominates basketball, and it’s hard to see when their reign at the top will end.
Highlights
Player of the Game
Sidney Crosby was Canada’s offense in the World Cup opener, but in this game, they showcased their depth. As Pete Blackburn showed, Duchene was extremely efficient in the first period, despite being out for a limited time:
In addition to him, Tavares played a phenomenal game, even though the scoresheet didn’t reflect that. Every offensive player on Team Canada poses a scoring threat, but against USA, those two stood out the most.
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What’s Next
Team USA’s last group game will be against Czech Republic on Thursday at 8. But now that they’re effectively eliminated, this game is essentially meaningless, and the Americans are only playing for pride.
Team Canada, meanwhile, will have a quick turnaround as they take on Europe tomorrow at 8. Considering they’ve already booked their place in the semifinals, they’ll likely ice a weaker lineup, but even that should be enough to go undefeated in the group stage. But at this point, everyone else in the World Cup is simply playing catch-up to Team Canada. We’ll see if they face a legitimate challenge at all in this tournament.