Slovakia got out to a quick start and built up a 2-0 lead in the first period in which the dominated puck posession and had a number of Grade A chances. Tomas Kopecky & Miroslav Satan were the goal scorers. Canada came back in the period with a goal by Evander Kane to make it 2-1.
They were able to build some momentum off that and were much better in the second frame. Jeff Skinner scored on the power play to tie it at 2 and then in the last minutes of the period, Alexandre Burrows gave Canada a 3-2 lead.
In the third, Slovakia simply wanted it more. They were stiffiling in thier own end and used their speed to pounce on loose pucks. It looked like Canada was going to hang on for the win and the opportunity to play for a medal, but with 6:35 left in regulation, Milan Bartovic was able to take advantage of a slick drop pass by Tomas Tatar and tie the game at 3.
With 2:32 left in regulation Ryan Getzlaf was called for kneeing Juraj Mikus and given a five minute major and game misconduct. The Slovaks saw thier opportunity and they took it. Just four seconds into the power play, Michal Handzus ripped a slap shot from the blueline to give Slovakia, who hadnät even made it to the quarterfinals the past five years, a 4-3 lead over Canada. Canada tried to battle back while still down a man, but it wasn't enough.
Slovakia will play the winner of Sweden/Czech Republic on Saturday in the semifinals.
Some post-game notes for you:
- The entire Canadian team was stunned walking through the mixed zone and those that talked to the media kept it very brief. They were simply at a loss for words. The common theme was a slow start and not wanting it bad enough in the third when they were protecting a lead.
- I give a lot of credit to Team Canada captain Ryan Getzlaf for coming back out of the locker room after his major penalty and game misconduct that ultimately cost them the game and talking at length with the media. He said he was just finishing his check and the opposing player tried to get out of the way and got hurt in the process. If there's a reply out there for you to watch, you'll see that Getzlaf did not skick his leg out or make any other sudden movements to cause the injury, but there was contact to the knee.
- On the flip side, Tomas Tatar was estatic with the win. Iäm pretty sure he spoke to the media the entire 30 minutes the mixed zone was open. He said that in the second intermission they said they had nothing to lose and committed themselves to leave everything they had on the ice and that win or lose they could be satisfied that they game it their all. "This is huge for us. We beat one of the best teams in the world and we are such a little country and don't have as many hockey players as Canada and I know people are already starting to celebrate at home. This is huge."
- Among the veterans on Team Slovakia, the message was that we might be young and not as talented, but we have experience and we are capable of beating any team so let's give it a try and see what we've got left. For a team that was concerned with simply earning a spot in the Top 8 of the world rankings to automatically qualify for the 2014 Olympics, a trip to the semis is icing on the cake. Now theyäre looking to adorn that cake with some hardware.
USA plays Finland at 11:30am EST. You can watch on TSN and NBCSports.
Julie
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