CANADA ROUTS RUSSIA
Women remain undefeated
Any time Canadians and Russians meet on a sheet of ice, there's always that frisson of excitement, being hockey powers and all.
But on late Sunday afternoon at WinSport Arena, it didn't take long for the difference between the nations, at least in the women's game, to become evident.
Right from the opening whistle, Canada dominated and, initially stymied by some fine goaltending, showed who was boss as they defeated ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) 5-1 on Day 3 of the 2021 IIHF women's world hockey championship.
Russia's lone goal, scored by captain Olga Sosina, came with just 1.3 seconds left in the third period on just their seventh shot ... of the game.
“Maybe not the best start that we wanted but we kept building up and our second and third periods were our best periods,” said Canada's Melodie Daoust.
Next up for Canada is Switzerland on Tuesday.
Canada kept the puck in the ROC end for much of the first period and, when play did enter their side of the rink, they managed to neatly and speedily transition back.
Canada outshot the opposition 17-3 over the first 20 minutes, with Nadezhda Morozova putting in a particularly strong effort in goal for the Russians, especially on the lone Canada power play. She thwarted everyone, whether the shot was from afar or on her doorstep.
“We were happy with how we played the first 20, 25 minutes,” said ROC head coach Yevgeni Bobariko. “We tried to answer the Canadian attack with our attack and tried to be aggressive, but then in the second period, Canadians turned it up a notch. They scored two quick goals in the counterattack and it was the thing that put us back.”
The second period continued where the first left off, Canada once again pushing ROC around and creating numerous turnovers. The puck bounced all around the front of the net, but Morozova was at her most frustrating, pouncing on anything that was round, rubber and black.
“That's the game of hockey,” Daoust said. “We're going to keep shooting the puck and keep crashing the net. At one point, it's going to go in. Our motto is `process' and that we keep building one shift after the other. We want to stick with it, we want to play our own way and that's very important for our team.”
All good things, alas, must come to an end, and so they did for the ROC netminder.
With a little more space to work with on a 4-on-4, Sarah Fillier streaked down the left side and beat Morozova with a seeing-eye shot at 7:29 for her second goal of the tournament. Less than two minutes later, Canada made it 2-0 when Ella Shelton bore down on Morozova and scored on a terrific snipe.
“I think being an active defence is important in all these games,” Shelton said with a smile. “Taking my chances and throwing the puck at the net ... good things will happen.”
Erin Ambrose made it 3-0 when a long drive got by Morozova, who was screened by a towering Brianne Jenner. After that goal, ROC made a goaltending change, putting in Ann Prugova. But no one could blame Morozova, who faced 35 shots in less than two periods and if not for her, the score would have been even more one-sided.
Ann-Renee Desbiens in the Canada net, meanwhile, could have pulled up a cot as she was not tested in the least and was probably as shocked as anyone when Sosina's shot beat her in the final second.
“Today we needed to convert our chances,” said Sosina. “If you look at the shot count, sixty-something to six or seven ... we couldn't convert into shots on goal or goals. We want to take it to the next level to compete equally with the Canadians and the Americans. But we need to be better.”
Daoust and Rebecca Johnston added goals in the third period.
ROC came into the tournament ranked No. 4.
Earlier in the day, the Czech Republic improved to 2-0 when they defeated Hungary 4-2. Tereza Radova, Daniela Pejsova, Vendula Pribylova and Denisa Krizova scored for the Czechs, while Reka Dabasi and Fanni Gasparaics replied for Hungary.
Finland and the United States were meeting in the late game.