World Cup of Hockey 2016 Results: Scores, Highlights and Reaction from Monday
After a number of blowout wins over the first few days at the World Cup of Hockey, Monday's action was filled with nothing but drama.
Team Europe came through with the biggest moment of the tournament so far when Leon Draisaitl scored in overtime to seal a win over the Czech Republic. Europe now has four points through two games and is in great shape to advance to the semifinals after defeating the United States in its first contest in Group A.
The second game featured just as much excitement, with Russia narrowly holding on for a 4-3 victory over Team North America. Both teams now have one win and one loss through two games and will have to wait to see what happens over the next few days.
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Here is a recap of all the action from Day 3 at the Air Canada Centre.
Team Europe 3, Czech Republic 2 (F/OT)
Two teams that were overlooked coming into the World Cup of Hockey provided the game of the tournament so far with a highly competitive battle that was close from start to finish.
Czech Republic goalie Petr Mrazek was impressive in net, finishing with 38 saves, with a few seeming impossible at the time. However, one mistake helped Europe reach overtime, where Draisaitl was able to beat the goalie for the game-winning goal.
Team Europe goalie Jaroslav Halak saved 28 of the 30 shots that came his way.
The game featured a quiet start with a relatively empty arena and little action in the first period. Even with two penalties for each team, neither side was able to get many good looks at the net.
Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune mocked the play in the early going:
Anze Kopitar had a chance to break the stalemate in the second period, when the Europeans were awarded a penalty shot. However, his poor attempt to go between Mrazek's legs didn't work, and the game remained scoreless.
Europe needed some fortune to finally get onto the scoreboard, as Joe Haggerty of CSN New England described:
Mrazek was scrambling without his stick, and by the time he found it, the puck was in the net.
It only took about three minutes for the Czech Republic to get the equalizer on an impressive shot by Jakub Voracek. The forward didn't have numbers but put the puck in the perfect location to earn the goal.
The NHL provided a replay of the impressive shot:
That represented both the first goal for the Czech Republic in the tournament as well as the first one Halak had allowed.
The drama grew in the third period, with the best and worst of Mrazek making an impact in both ways. Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times summed up the set of plays that led to Mats Zuccarello's go-ahead goal for Europe:
The lead held until midway through the third period, when the Czech Republic took advantage of a Thomas Vanek tripping penalty. On the power play, Martin Hanzal took a bounce off the boards and sent it into the net to tie the game at 2-2.
While there were close chances for both sides, neither was able to break through for the rest of regulation, guaranteeing each team would earn at least a point.
Of course, Europe had no interest in just one point. During the three-on-three period, a missed shot by the Czech Republic left an opening for a fast break in the other direction. Zuccarello found his streaking teammate, and Draisaitl did the rest to secure the win.
The Edmonton Oilers provided a look at the finish:
The Europeans can now rest easier heading into their toughest test of the tournament, Wednesday's game against Canada, with four points already on the board. The Czech Republic will get an extra day off before facing the United States on Thursday night.
If Canada defeats the United States on Tuesday, the hosts will join Europe in the semifinals.
Postgame Reaction
Draisaitl provided his thoughts after playing the role of hero for the Europeans:
Meanwhile, head coach Ralph Krueger believes the recent success has nothing to do with luck, per Frank Seravalli of TSN:
After two wins in two games, there is no reason to discount the squad's ability at this point.
Russia 4, North America 3
Russia did all of its damage in a span of about six minutes, scoring four consecutive goals before holding on with desperate defense to pull out the 4-3 victory.
North America overcame a 4-1 deficit to make it a one-goal game in the third period. From there, it unleashed a barrage of shots and came close to tying it seemingly a dozen times but simply couldn't get the last one into the net.
Sergei Bobrovsky was outstanding in net for Russia, saving 43 of the 46 shots on goal. Russia only had 25 shots on goal in the entire game.
Still, the more experienced team did enough to come away with the win and keep its hopes of advancing alive.
Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News provided his thoughts on the matchup:
The young North Americans continued to show off their ability in the first period with a perfectly executed two-on-one to score the opening goal. Connor McDavid breezed through the defense to find Auston Matthews, who provided the easy finish:
Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports joked about McDavid's ability to beat Pavel Datsyuk on the assist:
North America likely felt good going into the first intermission up 1-0, although the second period was a much different story.
Vladislav Namestnikov tied the game about halfway through the second period, but this was just the start for Russia. Nikita Kucherov scored 50 seconds later to earn the lead. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Vladimir Tarasenko followed shortly after in a sudden onslaught against Matt Murray.
ESPN Stats & Info noted how quickly the game turned:
John Gibson replaced Murray in net to stop the bleeding.
North America finally ended the run later in the second when Morgan Rielly scored to cut the lead to 4-2, which stood heading into the third period.
The NHL's Twitter account provided a look at the highlights from a busy second session:
Still, North America refused to give up and cut the lead in half shortly into the third period. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins took advantage of the extra man on the power play and scored to make it 4-3 in favor of Russia.
There was a good chance to tie the game with a five-on-three situation late in the third period, but Russia produced an impressive penalty kill to avoid anything more than a couple of good looks and no goals.
Although there were a ton of chances late, North America just couldn't get that fourth goal.
Team North America will close out its group-stage schedule with a difficult matchup against Sweden on Wednesday. Russia will hope it can earn a spot in the semifinals with a win over Finland in its final match set for Thursday afternoon.
Postgame Reaction
Russian captain Alex Ovechkin was proud of his team's effort in a must-win game.
"We knew we can't lose the game," Ovechkin said, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. "If we lose the game we're obviously out of the tournament. Back to back, I think we played a solid second and our penalty-kill guys, Telegin, blocked the shots, Bobrovsky. You can see everybody sacrificing, and we get the result."
On the other hand, North America coach Todd McLellan isn't celebrating moral victories, per Whyno:
With such a young roster, however, this could certainly work as a learning experience moving forward in the tournament.
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