TORONTO — It will take an upset of monumental proportion for Team Europe to edge Canada twice in the best-of-three World Cup of Hockey final.
Here are five things to consider about the matchup:
1. Can anyone contain Sidney Crosby?
So far the answer has been a resounding no.
Sidney Crosby has hovered in his own space at the World Cup, one step (and sometimes two) ahead of every opponent.
He’s scored the first goal in three of Canada’s four wins, mustering at least in point in every game but one. The 29-year-old leads the World Cup with seven points, including a hearty three-point performance against Russia in the tournament semifinals.
Crosby, who won the Conn Smythe trophy last June in leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to another Stanley Cup, has clicked perfectly with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. The trio has shown to be fast, savvy, and puck-hungry all tournament long. Crosby and Marchand have three goals each, with Bergeron chipping in with a pair.
European head coach Ralph Krueger will have to employ either Roman Josi and Dennis Seidenberg against the Crosby unit or the aging duo of Zdeno Chara and Andrej Sekera.
Either way the matchup favours Canada.
2. Slowing Crosby is just the start
Even if Europe manages to contain Crosby, Canada still has three other tough lines to tangle with.
Ryan Getzlaf, John Tavares and Steven Stamkos were an especially heavy force against Russia, finally breaking through against Sergei Bobrovsky with Tavares’ first goal of the tournament in the third period. Held without a goal so far, Stamkos looks to be due. The Tampa Bay Lightning captain had a fine one-time chance against Bobrovsky that was ultimately denied.
“He’s been in on a ton of scoring chances and once that floodgate opens it could stay open for a while,” Canadian GM Doug Armstrong said.
Jonathan Toews, Corey Perry and Logan Couture will likely be tasked with shutting down Europe’s top line of Anze Kopitar, Marian Hossa and Tomas Tatar, but they’re hardly slouches in the offensive end. Toews and Couture both have four points and Perry’s scored a pair of goals.
Matt Duchene has two goals and four points to lead Canada’s fourth line.
Stop one of Canada’s four trios and there are three more scary combinations coming. Ten players have at least a goal and all but two of the regulars (Claude Giroux and Jake Muzzin played only a game each) have at least a point.
3. Europe will need some magic to beat Canada twice
More than six years have ticked by since Canada lost even once in a best-on-best format. Beating the Canadians twice seems like a tall, near impossible task for Europe.
“They pretty much bull-rushed through everybody to the final and we’re going to have to play our very best,” Kopitar said. “There can’t be an area where we can’t be good at.”
Canada has outscored foes 19-6, outshot them 44-29 on average and trailed twice in four games — once for 89 seconds, the second time for one minute and 12 seconds against Russia.
This is a powerhouse which has shown no signs of slowing so far.
Canada topped Europe 4-1 in the preliminary round, outshooting them 46-20. It was close, at least on the scoreboard, for about 10 minutes in the second period with Hossa cutting a 2-0 deficit in half. Tension was minimal though and the Canadians quickly raced away on goals from Toews and Couture.
4. Halak must outplay Price — twice
Jaroslav Halak will likely need two heroic performances to give his team any kind of chance against the Canadians.
He made 42 saves in the preliminary round defeat, sturdy certainly just not quite to the level required for victory.
Sergei Bobrovsky offered a 40-minute demonstration of the kind of performance Halak will need not only once, but twice for Europe to somehow upset Canada. Bobrovsky stopped 31-of-33 shots over the first two periods, turning back chance after chance before the Canadians eventually pushed through in the third.
“He’s been outstanding,” Krueger said of Halak. “Everybody in this room knows we wouldn’t be here without fabulous goaltending, and a world-class performance by Jaro Halak has helped us a lot.”
Beating Canada will require at least three and maybe four goals on Carey Price, who’s stopped 92-of-97 shots at the World Cup so far. Perhaps not quite as dominant as their entry at the 2014 Olympics (three goals against), this Canadian squad doesn’t give up much either. Typically, that’s because they control the puck far more often than their opponents.
Can Kopitar, Hossa and Tatar forge a presence in Canada’s zone? Beyond that it’ll be up to those like Marian Gaborik, Mats Zuccarello and Frans Nielsen to find some offence for Europe to have a chance.
5. Europe is playing for eight nations
Representing eight different countries, the Europeans are playing for something other than national pride. Or so it would seem.
“We’ve said from the start, ‘Play for your countries. When you hear the Swedish anthem, it’s yours. When you hear the Czech anthem, it’s yours. When you hear the Canadian anthem, it’s yours,’” Krueger explained. “And the players have bought into that. The only thing we’ve asked them to do is connect on the ice. So when you go out on the ice, connect. Play together, play together with the puck, play together without the puck, fight for each other, but play for your countries, and it’s taken us a long way.”
Jonas Siegel, The Canadian Press
