Faceoff Factor

Tic-Tac-Goal. That’s pretty much how to describe this game.

Russia entered this game with a power play that was ranked 10th in the tournament, something not expected for a team that boasts the offensive talent of Ovechkin, Semin, Fedorov, and Kovalchuk. An early Russian power play revealed that no puck movement; the players tried to play the game one-on-one with little success, making it easy for the Finns to kill the penalty.

The game started with a good pace, with both teams having chances on the opposing goalies, but it was Russia to score first and it was the game-winner. The Russians broke into the Finnish zone on a 3-on-1 and it was tic-tac-toe-goal for Fedorov.

It was another tic-tac-goal in the second period as Markov found Zaripov, who put it behind Niklas Backstrom and put Russia ahead 2-0.

Finland was very much in this game until the third period. They essentially shot themselves in the foot as they took two consecutive too-many-men penalties. They managed to kill the first one off, but Russia scored on the second power play to put the game out of reach for Finland. Add to that the fact that the Finns just couldn’t seem to get to the net for a chance or two (which could be due to travel fatigue), and you get a very frustrated Team Finland.

Sushinsky added an empty net goal for Russia and Olli Jokinen lost it as he slashed Sushinsky in the arm and throat immediately after the goal was scored.

Sweden and Canada have faced each other more in the WC than they have any other nation. In fact, they have met in the semi-finals in 2006 and in 2007, with Sweden winning the first game and Canada taking the second. In both of those tournaments, the winner of that semi-final moved on to win the gold medal.

Coming into this game, Canada knew that it had to get balanced scoring. Sweden, on the other hand, had to solve the problem that is RDR, which would be hard without Kenny Jonsson (scratched due to concussion symptoms).

Dany Heatley got Canada on the board first when he outworked the Swedish defence while on a power play and scored his 11th goal of the tournament, tying a modern-day Canadian record (with Lindros) for most goals in a WC.

Maple Leaf rookie Anton Stralman tied the game for Sweden with 44 seconds left in the period.

The second period started out well for Sweden. Mike Green shot the puck and beat Lundqvist but hit the post. The Swedes picked up the puck and took off down the ice and into the Canadian zone, where Niclas Wallin gave Sweden the lead.

Ryan Getzlaf responded for Canada, scoring a power play goal by winning a 1-on-1 battle against Magnus Johansson and finding a hole short side.

Canada started to act ‘too cute’ in the defensive zone, trying to make the perfect play and turning over the puck to a very good Swedish team. Hitchcock responded by throwing out some of his energy guys – Mayers, Spezza, and Chimera – and was rewarded when Mayers scored his second goal of the tournament by keeping things simple.

The officiating in the game was a bit suspect, with several high sticks, crosschecks and holding penalties not being called, yet there were still a number of power plays for both teams. Stralman scored his second goal of the game while on the power play, and his goal tied the game at 3.

Nash gave Canada the lead again as the Canadians came out of their own zone on a breakout and scored up high on Lundqvist.

Late in the second period, while Canada was on the power play, Sweden takes a double minor as Jason Spezza was cut under the right eye as he was looking for a rebound off Lundqvist. Mike Green scored his fourth goal of the tournament with just seconds left in the second period.

Sweden started the third period with Lundqvist on the bench and Tellqvist in net, a curious move since Lundqvist had faced almost 30 shots and Tellqvist hadn’t played since the first game of the tournament 11 days ago.

Canada had almost 4 minutes of power play time to start the period, but failed to capitalize. Sweden did not roll over and die as the clock ticked on, but rather gained momentum as Warg scored with 5 minutes left to pull Sweden within 1 goal of Canada. It wasn’t enough, though, and Sweden lost their second consecutive semi-final against Canada.

Finland will face Sweden in the Bronze medal game on Saturday afternoon, while Canada and Russia will battle for the gold on Sunday.