Canada tops Team Europe in hockey finals opener

TORONTO – The undefeated Canadians showed on Tuesday night that even at their worst they are the best team at the World Cup of Hockey.

The line of Brad Marchand, Sidney Crosby and Patrice Bergeron created a pair of goals to lead an uncharacteristically sloppy Team Canada to a 3-1 win against Team Europe in Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series. Canada can wrap up the title with a win on Thursday night.

“We need more guys on deck than we had tonight,” Canada coach Mike Babcock said.

Babcock said he didn’t think “we moved the puck out of our zone at all tonight.”

His players shared his assessment of their sub-par level of play, and yet the Canadians found a way to win their fifth consecutive game of the tournament. They have outscored the opposition 22-7.

“We showed we can play with them,” European captain Anze Kopitar said. “It was arguably our best game of the tournament.”

Canada defenseman Drew Doughty said the Canadians have to play better in Game 2 because he expects the Europeans to “be even hungrier.” “They definitely gave us our biggest scare,” Doughty said. The Europeans, with players from eight different countries, have been the tournament’s biggest surprise. They have won by playing strong defensively, and scoring timely goals. They just couldn’t get the goals they needed against Canada.

Marchand and Bergeron scored a goal apiece and Crosby picked up two more assists to pace the Canadians. Crosby’s line has 22 points in five games. Marchand now has four goals in five games, and Crosby has a tournament-leading nine points on three goals and six assists. Bergeron has six points.

“I think we can play better, but ultimately we found a way to win,” Crosby said. “That’s important. We just want to make sure we give ourselves a chance by the way we play.” Crosby is the favorite to win tournament MVP honors. “He’s probably the best player of our generation,” Canada goalie Carey Price said. “He provides a lot of leadership and he’s a momentum-changing player.”

The solid play of Price gave the team a boost when the Europeans generated 17 shots and cut Canada’s lead to 2-1.

Europe coach Ralph Krueger said he took encouragement from the fact that the Europeans were in the game until the end.

“We can take confidence in the fact that we can win against Team Canada,” Krueger said. “But it has to be perfect, and it certainly wasn’t today in every aspect. But lots of good things there, lots of effort, and something to build on"