Team Canada took on Russia today in the quarter finals and lost 5-2 to the Russian powerhouse.
Not a surprise that Canada lost to the stacked Russian squad but this will be the worst finish for the squad since 1992 and the last time the country didn’t win a medal since 2002. They won against easy teams in the tourney, but lost all of their games against top teams that they faced. It does not come as surprise for the team medal but still a little bit of a surprise for the team to finish this bad. Then again they were young and only sported only one player who participated for Canada in the Olympics (Corey Perry) as compared to the Russians who have 14 on their roster.
The Russian and Canadians both played a good game today even though the score doesn’t make it seem like the game was close. The Russians got up 4-0 before Canada got its first goal. Russia’s scorers were Afinogenov, Datsyuk, Malkin (2), Federov. Canada got its first goal with only 7 minutes left in the game from Tavares and its second with only 14 seconds left from Matt Duchene.
Did this avenge the humilating loss that Russia faced against Canada in the Olympics? Steven Stamkos doesn’t think so:
“Canada won the Olympics and they beat Russia pretty badly. I mean, that’s when you have the best of the best,” Stamkos said. “As of right now Canada is still the best team in the world.” –The Province
Russia moves on to face the host team Germany in the semi-finals, while Sweden takes on the Czech Republic in the other semi-final on Saturday.
