Team Europe opened play at the World Cup of Hockey with an impressive start while their opponents were left stunned on ice. The European squad outskated, outplayed and outscored the United States winning 3-0 at the Air Canada Centre Saturday. It was the third time in international play that an NHL based squad from the U.S. were shutout in a game.
Group A play began with the U.S. meeting against the Europeans in the first game of the tournament. Team USA had a good warm up winning two of three while Team Europe had trouble until bringing things together with a surprising victory over Sweden. Newly named Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar led his European squad of players from across the continents spanning eight nations. With both sides stacked on talent it’ll be up to either side and who can break ahead quickly.
Red Wings forward Frans Nielsen helped out to get Europe get started with a turnover in the neutral zone before delivering the puck to Kings forward Marian Gaborik. The Slovakian fired a quick shot at US goaltender (and Kings teammate) Jonathan Quick for the first goal occurring four minutes into the period. The Americans got their first shot on net with Jaroslav Halak blocking out the puck.
The pace of the game remained tight as the teams earned their time with the puck taking their opportunities on the opposing net minders. For nearly six minutes, there was very little stoppage time till the US took a penalty on Ryan Kesler holding the stick of Kopitar. Team USA’s PK unit did work to prevent another goal getting through inching away from them with strong wins on the faceoff and plenty of hits to go with them.
Quick dealt with another few two on ones keeping Europe shut down for the remaining minutes on the clock. The U.S. offense couldn’t bring the same heat on ice looking slow at times to make a play on Halak. Though they outshot Europe 6-5, being down in the first twenty minutes wasn’t making a good impression.
Europe came out hot in the second period playing strong on defense against the United States. As they neared the four minute mark, the Europeans fought near the boards gaining possession of the puck with Leon Draisaitl going into the American zone in a two one on position. Making it look far too easy, the young German forward got the best of Quick making it 2-0.
Team USA tried changing things up with a 2 on 1 at Halak with Patrick Kane followed by Kesler. Despite all their attempts, they were unable to get out of the whole. Another opportunity midway through the period saw James van Riemsdyk scoring a goal that went off the helmet of his teammate near the crease. The play was reviewed for legality concerns and concluded that the shot didn’t count due to hand use on the play.
It added woes to Team USA’s attempts to get out of trouble but in the end suffered once more. With 88 seconds left in the game, Europe scored their third unanswered on Pierre Edouard Bellmare’s tip of the puck that was tipped earlier by Jannik Hansen. The stunned USA bench had very little time to respond as the period came to a close. They outshot Europe 18-9 but the blocked shots and fast skating were destroying the Americans.
The United States came out with Quick still in the net for the team as he remained a first stringer for coach John Tortorella. Team USA got into trouble early with Brandon Dubinsky earning a double minor for a hi stick to Zdeno Chara.
Quick got into a tough position during the four-minute double minor stopping some big shots that included one from Tomas Tatar at point blank range. Quick remained flawless through a majority of the period but his team was still down three goals. The Americans took numerous shots through a large chunk of the third but Halak and the European defense was in fine form looking to get their best win to start group play.
A fifth chance came for Team USA to make something of their power play that has shown constant struggle through the duration of the game. Their efforts were quickly taken care of by Europe’s PK that dominated on every aspect of the puck. The last two minutes of the game were lengthy for Americans as they were left scoreless to give Halak an impressive shutout over what was made to be a strong team.
The U.S. outshot Europe 35-16 but clearly had problems all over. They went 0 for 4 on power plays and couldn’t keep up with the pace of Europe. With no other answer than to move on, the United States looked to Tuesday when they meet Canada while the Euro squad takes on the Czech Republic on Monday.
Photo by: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
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