Canada 3 Europe 1
The World cup of Hockey finals game 1 kicked off yesterday at 7PM at the Air Canada Centre. The best of 3 series features the undefeated powerhouse of Canada, and the surprising young finalist of Team Europe. As the game kicked off yesterday, speed was the obvious first factor as both teams play a quick, puck possession based game. A shaky start to Jaroslav Halak's evening saw the first Canadian shot of the game from Brad Marchand give the Canadians a 1-0 lead. The game was fast paced, and throughout the first, the Canadians seemed much more dominant, as just over the halfway point of the first, the Canadians doubled their lead on a Steven Stamkos goal. This was Stamkos' first goal of the tournament, and came on a beautiful feed from Anahiem Ducks Captain Ryan Getzlaf. The Europeans however, led 13-9 in shots after 20 minutes. The second period showed much differently, as the Europeans came hard at the Canadians, and dominated them throughout the period. Tomas Tatar scored yet again for the Europeans, cutting Canada's lead in half. Some missed opportunities for the Europeans such as an Andrej Sekera breakaway, and some close calls from Anze Kopitar saw a frustrated Team Europe trying to level the score. The poor play from the Canadians in the 2nd period changed, as they seemed more energized to start the 3rd adding a 3rd and final goal from Patrice Bergeron that sealed the deal. Carey Price had yet another stellar performance, once again leading the Canadians to victory. The Canadians will try to win the cup on Thursday at 7PM as things will once again kick off for Game 2 of this best of 3 series.
