KIDWCKED
02-27-2010, 10:39 PM
c\p By Eric Duhatschek, The Globe and Mail Posted Friday, February 26, 2010 12:28 AM ET
The relief on their faces was palpable afterwards. The moment of panic was over; the realization had gradually sunk in - that Canada's men's Olympic hockey team would be playing for the gold medal on Sunday.
Moments earlier, Canada's men's Olympic hockey team appeared to be cruising to victory in methodical if unspectacular fashion. They had opened up a three-goal, two-period lead against a heavy underdog, Slovakia, and it only seemed a matter of time before they put the finishing touches on the victory.
In the end, Canada did squeeze it out - but not before getting a major scare in the third period, during which the Slovaks scored twice and almost forced overtime in the final seconds.
Goaltender Roberto Luongo preserved the victory by deflecting away a shot from his Vancouver Canucks' teammate Pavol Demitra - who looked as if he were facing a wide-open net - in the dying seconds, enabling Canada to emerge with a heart-stopping 3-2 victory and a date with the Americans in Sunday's gold-medal game.
But it wasn't easy, not by any stretch of the imagination.
The final moment was frantic, with the Slovaks putting on constant pressure, with goaltender Jaroslav Halak on the bench for a sixth attacker.
"It just comes down to making plays and not throwing puck away," said defenceman Duncan Keith, who along with his partner Drew Doughty, was out there for the entire time, trying to nail the victory down. "I thought we were throwing it away too much. The ice is chippy; the puck is bouncing every where; and it's tough to make plays. The Slovaks had nothing to lose there, so they were putting all the pressure on."
Added Doughty: "That's going to be the difference in the tournament - Lou (Luongo) making that huge glove save at the end."
Up until the third period hiccup, Canada had played a methodical game. Ryan Getzlaf underlined his importance to Canada's efforts by scoring a second-period power-play goal, which stood up as the eventual winner.
Getzlaf was aided and abetted by two members of Canada's supporting cast, Patrick Marleau and Brenden Morrow, both of whom picked the right time to produce their second goals of the tournament.
"Obviously, we took a different route than the U.S. to get there," said Getzlaf. "But the bottom line is, we're both there and we're both excited to be there."
Canada and the U.S. met earlier in the preliminary round, with the U.S. earning a 5-3 victory over Canada, on the strength of an exceptional goaltending performance from Ryan Miller.
The relief on their faces was palpable afterwards. The moment of panic was over; the realization had gradually sunk in - that Canada's men's Olympic hockey team would be playing for the gold medal on Sunday.
Moments earlier, Canada's men's Olympic hockey team appeared to be cruising to victory in methodical if unspectacular fashion. They had opened up a three-goal, two-period lead against a heavy underdog, Slovakia, and it only seemed a matter of time before they put the finishing touches on the victory.
In the end, Canada did squeeze it out - but not before getting a major scare in the third period, during which the Slovaks scored twice and almost forced overtime in the final seconds.
Goaltender Roberto Luongo preserved the victory by deflecting away a shot from his Vancouver Canucks' teammate Pavol Demitra - who looked as if he were facing a wide-open net - in the dying seconds, enabling Canada to emerge with a heart-stopping 3-2 victory and a date with the Americans in Sunday's gold-medal game.
But it wasn't easy, not by any stretch of the imagination.
The final moment was frantic, with the Slovaks putting on constant pressure, with goaltender Jaroslav Halak on the bench for a sixth attacker.
"It just comes down to making plays and not throwing puck away," said defenceman Duncan Keith, who along with his partner Drew Doughty, was out there for the entire time, trying to nail the victory down. "I thought we were throwing it away too much. The ice is chippy; the puck is bouncing every where; and it's tough to make plays. The Slovaks had nothing to lose there, so they were putting all the pressure on."
Added Doughty: "That's going to be the difference in the tournament - Lou (Luongo) making that huge glove save at the end."
Up until the third period hiccup, Canada had played a methodical game. Ryan Getzlaf underlined his importance to Canada's efforts by scoring a second-period power-play goal, which stood up as the eventual winner.
Getzlaf was aided and abetted by two members of Canada's supporting cast, Patrick Marleau and Brenden Morrow, both of whom picked the right time to produce their second goals of the tournament.
"Obviously, we took a different route than the U.S. to get there," said Getzlaf. "But the bottom line is, we're both there and we're both excited to be there."
Canada and the U.S. met earlier in the preliminary round, with the U.S. earning a 5-3 victory over Canada, on the strength of an exceptional goaltending performance from Ryan Miller.