World Cup of Hockey Canada vs. Europe: Highlights and Recap

Team Canada is the only team to capture all six of its points in the preliminary round of the World Cup of Hockey, defeating Team Europe in its final game, 4-1.

In a game that didn’t have near the intensity or build up of last night’s World Cup of Hockey match-up between Canada and the USA. But Jaroslav Halak came out and made it exciting.

He came out to play making 39 saves on 43 shots. Unfortunately for Halak, Corey Crawford came through with enough of a performance of his own to preserve a 4-1 win for the Canadians.

Despite the scratches of Shea Weber and Ryan Getzlaf, the Canadians went full tilt, rolled their four lines, and dominated proceedings with a decisive edge in both shots and scoring chances. At one point, the Canadians were outshooting Europe 3:1.

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In each game Canada has played, from exhibition to the final preliminary game, a different player has stepped up. It was Sidney Crosby against the Czech Republic, Matt Duchene against Team USA. Tonight, it was Jonathan Toews pulling up to the forefront of Canada’s lineup to score two goals.

What We’ve Learned From Canada’s Three Games:

• Canada is like Hydra. Take out one star, ten more are waiting to take his place.
• This team can’t be beaten down. Team USA tried and failed miserably.
• Keep giving Canada power plays, they’re going to take advantage. There’s just too much skill.
• Carey Price is back, but even if he wasn’t, this team is deep in goal with the hardware to prove it. They’re even deeper on defense despite the absence of Duncan Keith.

What We’ve Learned From Europe’s Three Games:

• They aren’t the ragtag bunch of individuals we thought they would be.
• Ralph Kreuger knows what he’s doing, even though it didn’t seem so in Edmonton.
• And, Jaroslav Halak is back. Injuries? Forget about it. Just look at this little highlight reel:

It’s a waiting game now. Canada gets to sit back and check out what Team Russia can do against a Finland team that’s had a pretty dismal tournament. If Russia wins and Canada escapes playing Team North America, it could be a blessing.

Next: The Birthday Boy John Tavares

But think of the hockey those two teams could play against each other.