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Sweden, Behind Solid Defense and Markstrom, Defeats Russia 2-1 |
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Levine: Team Sweden World Cup
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Sweden shrugged off finding out that their starting goalie was to miss the game an hour before the contest to defeat Russia 2-1. A little offense, solid to dominant play by the blue line and strong net minding carried Tre Kroner to the victory. With the win, Sweden is 1-0 in Group B and a strong contender to advance out of the bracket.
Henrik Lundqvist came to the arena and then left about an hour or so before the game with what has been reported as the flu. Jacob Markstrom and the team found out then that the Vancouver netminder would be between the pipes. No problem, as the 6-foot-6 goalie was more than up to the task, stopping 27 shots to help Sweden to the win.
Markstrom, originally selected by the Florida Panthers in the second round (No. 31 overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, was to be the next big thing between the pipes. But his reputation for subpar practice habits earlier in his career ultimately resulted in him getting traded to Vancouver along with Shawn Matthias, in exchange for Steven Anthony and Roberto Luongo on March 4, 2014. That deal seems to have been a wake up call for Markstrom.
As written on ESPN, since that trade, he has become more diligent and more disciplined in his game. He has matured. His positioning has become much stronger and no longer relies solely on his 6-foot-6, 199-pound athletic frame. He has improved tremendously over the past few seasons. Markstrom should and could be the No. 1 goalie for the Canucks and continued strong performances, if he gets called upon again, in the World Cup will help him head to training camp with confidence.
Russia came out strong, taking the body very early and putting two shots on net that Markstrom stopped. But after that initial flurry, Russia failed to generate much, putting just six more shots on net. That minimal workload allowed Markstrom to settle in and the team to gain even more confidence in him.
Sweden scored both goals in the second period within a 2:11 span. The first came on the power play after a ticky-tack hooking call on Vadim Shipachev, who barely tugged Daniel Sedin at the blue line at 10:37 of the periods. It took Tre Kroner just four seconds to score.
Nicklas Backstrom won the draw cleanly from left circle back to Erik Karlsson, who sent across to Gabriel Landeskog for the one-timer from the right circle over Sergei Bobrovsky's blocker at 10:41 of the second period for the power-play goal. Perfect precision on the play, including Patric Hornqvist'a screen in front of Bobrovsky, resulted in the goal. Up 1-0, Sweden started to carry play even more.
The second goal was a result of patience and hockey smarts. Henrik Sedin showed patience, waiting to touch the puck, avoiding a too-many man on the ice penalty. He fed the puck to Carl Hagelin, who found a streaking Viktor Hedman in the slot for the one-timer glove-side past Bobrovsky. Great read by Hedman to see the open ice between the dots and immediately dart there to make it 2-0.
Russia really didn't start to show any sense of urgency until the third. Each time they tried to generate anything, Sweden's defense parried the attack. When Russia got shots on net, Markstrom was more than up to the task. That remained the case until 33 seconds remained in the period, which is when the nail-biting began.
Alexander Ovechkin scored with 33 seconds left in the third, putting a wrist shot from the point off the post and past a screened Markstrom. It was a simple wrist shot from near the blue line that went through several bodies in front. Markstrom never saw it due to the traffic in front and Russia had life.
The officials missed an icing call on Andrei Markov, which ultimately resulted in an offensive draw for Russia. Then came the controversy. A shot on net was knocked in by Ovechkin, using his glove, with 8.2 seconds remaining. The only question was whether it hit his or Anton Stralman's stick after Ovechkin's glove, which would have allowed the goal to count. From watching the replay below and several shown on the broadcast, the puck was spinning end over end when Ovechkin hit it with his glove and it never changed direction, which would have been an indication something else touched it, as such, the no goal call was correct.
Ovechkin Goal Disallowed:
A few takeaways:
Sweden's defense was monstrous throughout the game. The disaparity between the two blue lines was very evident. Russia lacks a back liner who is willing to control and carry play, which resulted in the offense struggling. Tre Kroner has no such issue, aiding their attack and a by reason why they are a favorite to come out of the bracket.
Russia faces a must win game Monday night against Team North America. The Swedes play Finland on Tuesday, and seeing what North America did to the Finns, Sweden enters that game as a heavy favorite. Russia must beat North America to have any shot at advancing. Wins by Sweden and North America lock up the top-two seeds for those teams.
It's unclear if Lundqvist will be back for the Finland game. If he isn't and Markstrom plays well, leading Sweden to another win, do you go to Lundqvist for the game against North America or semi-final contest? It's something to ponder.
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