Disappointed with Win?

For all those years growing up in Cole Harbour, N.S., Sidney Crosby dreamed of a moment just like this one - scoring a goal, in the shootout, to win a game for Canada at the Olympics.

But in the dream, said Crosby, "I score on the first shot."

No matter. The script reads better this way.

In a wildly entertaining game played in front of a full house at Canada Hockey Place that came down to the fourth round of shooters - and permitted coach Mike Babcock to use Crosby a second time - Canada escaped with a narrow 3-2 victory over the Swiss, setting up a game on Sunday against the Americans, with top spot in Group A up for grabs.

Playing against heavily favoured Canadians in an intimidating and potentially hostile environment, on the smaller and more unfamiliar NHL ice surface, Switzerland almost rode the acrobatic goaltending of Jonas Hiller to a monumental upset.

Hiller was brilliant stopping 43 of 45 shots in regulation, as Canada held a wide edge in shots and in the play, but were frustrated at every turn by the plucky and improving Swiss. The score was tied 2-2 after regulation and when five minutes of overtime settled nothing, it came down to a shootout.

Hiller foiled the first three Canadian shooters - Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Ryan Getzlaf - before Crosby finally buried the winning goal on his second try.

At the other end, Martin Brodeur was flawless, in turning aside all four Swiss shooters, and will get the start against the Americans Sunday.

According to Canadian coach Mike Babcock, his shootout strategy in using Crosby twice was rooted in pure basic NHL regular-season statistics.

"It was really complicated," said Babcock. "We had all the numbers down. Sid was the best, Toews was second and Getzlaf was third. We went in order. Then we said on the bench, ‘do we go with (Rick) Nash because he's fourth or do we go back to the guy who scores every time?' We just thought he'd had a look at him once; and he'd get him the second time."

The victory earned Canada two of a possible three points in the new playoff format adopted for the 2010 tournament, in which a regulation win is worth three points and an overtime or shootout win is two. As a result, the United States leads Group A with six points on two regulation victories. Coupled with its victory over Norway in the opener, Canada is second with five points. A victory in regulation over the Americans Sunday guarantees first place in the group and an automatic berth in the quarter-finals.

Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau scored for Canada in regulation, as Canada opened up a two-goal lead early in the second period. Ivo Ruthemann closed the gap to within one and then the Swiss scored the tying goal with 10 seconds to go in the second period - on a shot by Patrick von Gunten that deflected in off Marleau's skate - to give the visitors hope and setting the stage for a fabulous finish.

No loss at this early stage of the tournament is critical, but the Swiss signalled that they are here to play for a medal and that they're not prepared to go down without a fight.

Hiller, the Anaheim Ducks' goaltender that made J.S. Giguere expendable, is a tall, fluid lefthander that many of the Western Conference-based players on Team Canada see frequently.

"It may take until tomorrow to realize what we did today," said Hiller. "It was definitely one of the best games I've ever seen played by the Swiss national team."

Of facing Crosby twice in the shootout, Hiller added: "I was happy with the first save; he got me on the second one. I'm a little sad now; I wish I would have stopped it."

In the third period, when the Swiss started to trade chances with the Canadians, Hiller made a brilliant series of saves on his Ducks' teammates Corey Perry and Getzlaf, the latter coming on a stabbing glove save.

Switzerland was known primarily for its trapping defensive style, but it went for broke in the third period, sensing the chance for a major upset.

"I thought the team showed a lot of courage and character to get back in the game in the second period," said Ralph Krueger, the Winnipeg-born Swiss coach.

Babcock, meanwhile, acknowledged that the Swiss "really tested us tonight.

"We tightened up, they got faster and we didn't execute the way we probably should have. In the end, as a coach you want to win every game and play well every game. But in every championship I've ever been involved with your team has to go through adversity. That's what we had here today. We were able to survive it."

 

SOURCE: http://www.ctvolympics.ca/