Canada defeats Russia to win gold at men’s worlds
They were dominant at the beginning, and they were unbeaten at the end.
Canada overwhelmed Russia for a 6-1 win and are world hockey champions for the first time since 2007.
How it went down: To give you an idea of Canada’s control, they out shot Russia 37-12. Cody Eakin re-directed a Tyler Ennis blast to make it 1-0 at 18:10 of the first period. Then Canada unleashed a flurry of high-skill goals in the middle frame.
Golden journey: Semifinal | Quarterfinal | Round robin
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Ennis scored his second point, leaning hard on his inside edge to pull off an impressive wrap-around goal 1:56 into the second. Sidney Crosby went shelf from a bad angle, over Russian goalie Sergei Bobrovsky at 7:22. Then 44-seconds later, Tyler Seguin tapped-in his ninth goal, this one set-up by a beautiful Claude Giroux feed. The Russians had one shot in the second period. Canada led 4-0 after 40 minutes of play.
.@tseguinofficial scores his 9th goal of the tournament. Canada up 4-0http://t.co/vKzt7ScgB9 #CANvsRUS #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/vR1A7LAGBv
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) May 17, 2015
In the third period, Claude Giroux dragged his right knee to release a one-timer on the power play at 8:58. The sixth Canadian goal was Nathan MacKinnon’s fourth of the tournament at 9:50. Then Mike Smith’s quarters and semis shutout streak would finally end. An Evgeni Malkin tip-in at 12:47 of the final period made the game 6-1. Smith stopped the 11 other Russian shots.
It's over, @HC_Men win 6-1 to take the GOLD MEDAL – Congratulations! #CANvsRUS #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/xIaxop8vzt
— 2015 IIHF Worlds (@2015IIHFWorlds) May 17, 2015
Canada had lost the last two world championship games against Russia, in 2008 and 2009. And now the most recent Canadian gold medal at a IIHF World Championship is 2015. Canada finished the tournament 10-and-0 scoring 66 goals. Sidney Crosby also becomes the newest member of the ‘triple gold club’, adding a world champs title to his Olympic golds and Stanley Cup. The USA beat the Czech Republic 3-0 earlier in the day for bronze.