Top line leads Canada to Day 1 victory

01 May 2015 | Derek O’Brien

Picked as one of the gold medal favourites, Canada opened up Group A in Prague looking like it with a 6–1 win over Latvia. They were led by their top line, as Jason Spezza and Nathan McKinnon led with three points each and captain Sidney Crosby had two.

The shots on goal were 47–17 in favour of Canada, although it was actually Latvia who charged out of the gate fastest and were unlucky not to get the first goal. Their best chance came when Mikelis Redlihs appeared to have Mike Smith beaten, but the Canadian goalie reached back and swept the puck away at the goal line.

“Yeah, if we'd scored the first goal it could have been a completely different game,” said Latvian forward Koba Jass, who was celebrating his 25^th birthday. “We knew we were playing a good team and had to be ready. I can't say we played bad but we made little mistakes, tactical and mental mistakes and when you do that against a team that good, they don't forgive you.”

Canada got on the board at 9:57 when Spezza passed from down low and found McKinnon uncovered in the slot and his one-timer beat Ervins Mustukovs. Just over three minutes later the roles were reversed and it was McKinnon assisting on Spezza's goal after a shoot-in from defenceman Dan Hamhuis that Mustukovs didn't control.

Spezza beats Mustukovs for 2-0. Photo: Aleš Krecl / ČSLH

“He's skating great, he's easy to play with,” McKinnon said of Spezza. About playing on a line with Spezza and Crosby he added, “Both those guys are a treat to play with.”

Duchene scores 3-0. Photo: Aleš Krecl / ČSLH

Matt Duchene put Canada up 3–0 just 1:07 after Spezza's first goal, then Tyler Toffoli and Spezza again made it 5–0 in the first three minutes of the second. At that point, Mustokovs was pulled and replaced with Edgars Masalskis, who was brilliant the rest of the way. Masalskis stopped 23 of 24 shots, including a flurry late in the second period that started with a glove save off Tyler Seguin on a breakaway.

The teams exchanged goals in the third period – captain Kaspars Daugavins got Latvia on the board as he finished off a pretty passing play on a rush and then Crosby rounded out the scoring in the final minute on a penalty shot – the only puck to beat Masalskis in almost two full periods of work.

“It wasn't an easy game. We're glad to many people came to watch,” McKinnon said of the 16,013 who came to watch the first game in Prague. Latvia had by far the greater support, cheering loudly each big save by Masalskis and, of course, the goal by Daugavins.

“The atmosphere was unbelievable,” Jass raved about the support his team got. “(The fans) are our sixth man, I can't say enough about them.”

Their fans will be outnumbered in their next game against the host Czech Republic on Saturday night, though. Canada, meanwhile, gets the day off before facing Germany on Sunday afternoon.