2008 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship

Game Summary

Canada 4 - Russia 5 (Overtime)

QUEBEC CITY – The host country hex continues. Canada has failed to defend its world title on home turf.
 
With Rick Nash in the penalty box for delay of game, Ilya Kovalchuk's second goal of the game at 2:42 of overtime gave Russia a 5-4 win over Canada in the gold medal game of the 2008 IIHF World Championship on Sunday.
 
The Canadians took a 4-2 lead into the third period but the Russians fought back and tied the game on a late goal by Kovalchuk.
 
The last time the host country won the world title was the Soviet Union in 1986.
 
The Canadians were paced by Brent Burns, who scored twice, while Dany Heatley set a modern-day Canadian record with his 12th goal of the tournament.

Heatley picked up Top Forward and MVP honours from the IIHF Directorate, while Burns was named Top Defenseman.
 
Chris Kunitz also scored for the hosts in front of a pro-Canadian crowd of 13,339 at Le Colisée Pepsi, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
 
The Canada-Russia match-up was the gold medal game everybody wanted to see as the International Ice Hockey Federation celebrated its 100th anniversary by bringing the world championship to Canada for the first time.
 
The Russians were said to have the faster team but it was the Canadians who won a lot of the races and the battles along the boards and in front of the net in the first two periods.
 
Alexander Semin scored on the first shot of the game, beating Canadian netminder Cam Ward from close in on a feed from Alexander Ovechkin at 1:23 of the first period.
 
The Canadians fought back and tied it at 3:54 when Burns did a pump-action with the puck to get around a Russian defender. He then ripped a sharp wrist shot past Evgeni Nabakov – who was named the tournament’s top goaltender.
 
Kunitz connected at 9:17 on a 15-foot shot to put the Canadians ahead.
 
The Russians got into penalty trouble shortly after and Burns scored his second goal at 14:51 with Canada on a 5-on-3 man advantage. Heatley sent a pass to Martin St-Louis who in turn fed Burns, and he wasted no time snapping the puck past Nabakov.
 
The Russians were on a power play when Semin scored his second goal of the game to cut the Canadian lead to 3-2, but Heatley combined with linemate Ryan Getzlaf to restore Canada's two-goal lead.

Getzlaf was behind the goal line when Heatley took his centering pass and beat Nabakov to the short side at 9:56. The goal broke the modern-day record for goals by a Canadian in a world championship set by Eric Lindros in 1993, and also tied Steve Yzerman’s record of 20 points, set in 1990.
 
Ward, meanwhile, frustrated the Russians in the second period when they outshot Canada 12-8.

Facing a two-goal deficit in the third period, the Russians got goals from Kovalchuk and Alexei Tereshchenko in the final 11 minutes, setting up Kovalchuk’s overtime heroics.

Ward made a game-high 27 saves as the Russians held a 32-29 advantage in shots on goal.

Russia will look to defend their world championship at the 2009 event, which will be held in Switzerland.

WATCH CANADA VS. RUSSIA RIGHT NOW ON TSN’S VIDEO ON DEMAND! |  photo gallery
Game Information/Reseignements sur le match
Event/Événement World Championship Location/Emplacement Québec City, QC
Date Sun, May 18, 2008 Arena/Aréna Colisée Pepsi
Time/Heure 1:00 pm EST Attendance/Assistance 13,339
Round/Ronde Gold Medal Game # 56

 

Box Score/Compte

1

2

3

 4

Final
CAN

3

1

0

 0

4
RUS

1

1

2

 1

5

 

Goals/Penalties
First Period/Première période

Goals/Buts :
1.23 - 0 - 1 EQ - Russia - 28. SEMIN, Alexander (8. OVECHKIN, Alexander) (29. FEDOROV, Sergei)
3.54 - 1 - 1 EQ - Canada - 8. BURNS, Brent (9. ROY, Derek) (52. GREEN, Mike)
9.17 - 2 - 1 EQ - Canada - 14. KUNITZ, Chris
14.51 - 3 - 1 PP2 - Canada - 8. BURNS, Brent (26. ST. LOUIS, Martin) (15. HEATLEY, Dany)

Penalties/Pénalités :
1.41 - 2 min - Russia - 45. PROSHKIN, Vitali - Hooking
10.48 - 2 min - Russia - 42. ZINOVIEV, Sergei - Tripping
13.52 - 2 min - Russia - 29. FEDOROV, Sergei - Delaying the Game
14.23 - 4 min - Russia - 51. TYUTIN, Fedor - High Sticking
19.22 - 2 min - Canada - 10. SHARP, Patrick - Slashing
Second Period/Deuxième période

Goals/Buts :
21.14 - 3 - 2 PP1 - Russia - 28. SEMIN, Alexander (22. KORNEYEV, Konstantin) (52. MARKOV, Andrei)
29.56 - 4 - 2 EQ - Canada 15. HEATLEY, Dany (51. GETZLAF, Ryan)

Penalties/Pénalités :
26.33 - 2 min - Russia - 21. GOROVIKOV, Konstantin - Delaying the Game
Third Period/Troisième période

Goals/Buts :
48.55 - 4 - 3 EQ - Russia - 27. TERESHCHENKO, Alexei (28. SEMIN, Alexander) (51. TYUTIN, Fedor)
54.46 - 4 - 4 EQ - Russia 71. KOVALCHUK, Ilya (45. PROSHKIN, Vitali) (47. RADULOV, Alexander)

Penalties/Pénalités :
42.11 - 2 min - Canada - 10. SHARP, Patrick - Hooking
49.33 - 2 min - Canada - 51. GETZLAF, Ryan - Hooking
Overtime

Goals/Buts :
62.42 - 4 - 5 - PP1 Russia - 71. KOVALCHUK, Ilya - Game Winning Goal (29. FEDOROV, Sergei) (8. OVECHKIN, Alexander)

Penalties/Pénalités :
61.55 - 2 min - Canada - 61. NASH, Rick - Delaying the Game

 

Goaltenders CAN

30. WARD, Cam
Gardiens de but RUS 20. NABOKOV, Evgeny
Shots on Goal Team 1 p 2 p 3 p 4p
Shots on Goal CAN 15 8 6 0 - 29 total
Tirs au but RUS 5 12 13 2 - 32 total
Referee/Arbitre LARKING Christer (SWE), VINNERBORG Marcus (SWE)
Linesmen/Juges des lignes FEOLA Peter (USA), FONSELIUS Stefan (FIN)

 

ONE GAME, WINNER TAKE ALL AS CANADA FACES RUSSIA FOR GOLD

Cam Ward knows a few things about being in the spotlight.

The Canadian goaltender won a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and he feels it will be no different when Canada plays Russia in the gold medal game of the 2008 IIHF World Championship on Sunday. (LIVE on TSN/RDS, 12:50 p.m. ET/9:50 a.m. PT).

"You have to treat it as a Game 7," says Ward, who was in goal a year ago when Canada won the world title in Moscow by beating Finland and will between the pipes again on Sunday.

"He has that experience and it's hard to replace experience," says head coach Ken Hitchcock.

Ward says it is a privilege to get the start for his country for the second straight year in what is one of the biggest games of the year for Canadian hockey fans.

"I realize I am very fortunate to have the success early in my career with the Stanley Cup and the gold medal game last year and I hope things will go well on Sunday and we can win another gold," he says.

Canada and Russia enter the game with identical 8-0 records in this year’s tournament, with one big line leading the way.

In Canada's case, the trio of Rick Nash, Ryan Getzlaf and Dany Heatley has dominated the opposition, combining for 44 points in eight games, while the Russia counter with the trio of Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Sergei Fedorov – the ‘Washington Line’.

Sunday’s game will mark the first time since the IIHF went to the gold medal game format in 1992 that Canada and Russia have met for the top prize at the world championship.

But the rivalry between Canada and the Soviet Union, which broke apart in 1990, is well-documented, and the Canadians are well schooled on the history.

A few years ago, Shane Doan bought a photo of Paul Henderson scoring the series-clinching goal in the historic 1972 Summit Series, autographed by Henderson and the three other players in it.

Jason Chimera recalled the 1976 Canada Cup as one of the best series between Canada and the former Soviet Union he has ever seen.

"It is a little more special being Canada and Russia,” Chimera says. “The atmosphere will be jacked up and it will be a fun game. Being in Canada, this is extra special."

The few times the Canadians have faced adversity at this year’s world championship, they have stared it down.

The latest adversity came in Friday’s semi-final, when the Canadians found themselves trailing for the first time in the tournament. But Sweden’s 3-2 lead lasted all of 63 seconds, and the tournament hosts went on to a 5-4 win.

"We respond when we are challenged," says Hitchcock. "We have to impose our will on the Russians. We are a good team when we impose our will."

The last word goes to Bobby Clarke, the savvy Hall of Famer who represented Canada on three occasions, including the 1972 Summit Series, 1976 Canada Cup and 1982 IIHF World Championship.

"I think over the years it has been proven that the Russians have not beat us very often,” Clarke says. “The Russian players all know the words to the Canadian anthem and they know them by heart.”

Here's hoping they hear it again.

For more information:
André Brin Manager, Communications


PHOTO GALLERY
SCOREBOARD
  World Championship
  May 02 CAN 5 - SLO 1
  May 04 LAT 0 - CAN 7
  May 06 CAN 5 - USA 4
  May 08 CAN 2 - NOR 1
  May 10 CAN 10- GER 1
  May 12 CAN 6 - FIN 3
  May 14 NOR 2 - CAN 8
  May 16 CAN 5 - SWE 4
  May 18 CAN 4 - RUS 5
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