Canada Wins Group A With 4-1 Victory Over Europe

Canada will now shift their efforts to the semi-finals after defeating Team Europe by a score of 4-1 to finish off the World Cup of Hockey round robin.

It took less than five minutes for the Canadian fans to jump to their feet. Sidney Crosby had a shot on net, only to have Jaroslav Halak deflect the puck back to the Pittsburgh Penguins star. Crosby then circled around the net before tapping it in near the left post, giving Canada the 1-0 lead early in the game.

Canada would get another one from another from another familiar face. With 55 seconds remaining in the opening frame, Jonathan Toews would deflect one off his leg in front of the net after a shot on net by Matt Duchene. It came just minutes after Halak made two massive saves on Brad Marchand with the left pad, but he wasn't able to stop the goal that gave Canada the 2-0 advantage.

Europe would get one of their own at 4:38 in the second. Marian Hossa would score on his Chicago Blackhawks teammate, Corey Crawford, after taking a pass from Anze Kopitar along the boards. Hossa took a shot on net from the goal line, likely in an attempt to create a rebound opportunity, but it somehow slipped through Crawford's legs and in for the 2-1 goal.

Star players from the Blackhawks were all the rage in the game, so it made sense that Toews scored another one. After stealing the puck near the neutral zone, Toews skated in on a two-on-one opportunity with Logan Couture. Toews' wrist shot was extremely dangerous, blowing past Halak's glove to give Canada the two-goal advantage once again.

Europe had no real hope of winning the game, taking just 19 shots compared to Canada's 45. With just under three minutes left, Toews made a good play to fight off Zdeno Chara before sending it off to Couture, who had no problem roofing it up top for 4-1 goal, the marker that put the game officially.

Despite the win, the always-critical head coach Mike Babcock believed the game was tough due to having to play in a back-to-back scenario.

"We made mistakes we don't normally make," said Babcock. "And with saying that, we had the puck a lot and could have scored lots of goals."

Crawford, the winning goalie for Canada, felt good following his first win ever for his country in international play.

"That was pretty special," said Crawford. "I waited a long time. It was a pretty special feeling putting that jersey on."

Crosby said after that the run the team has had, which sees Canada holding a 13-game winning streak between the World Cup and Olympics since 2010, it's clear that the country is currently in a special time when it comes to top-tier hockey.

"I think everybody collectively as a group when you play for Team Canada understands that their role may change, minutes may change, but ultimately it's just about winning, and I think that everyone understands that," Crosby said.

With the loss, Europe will play Sweden on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM ET. Canada will also move on to the first semi-final on Saturday night at 7:00 PM ET, playing either North America or Russia, with the deciding team to be finalized following the result of Russia vs Finland at 3:00 PM ET.

Follow me on Twitter, @StevenEllisNHL.

 

Advanced player search

Tweets by @eurohockey