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Canada's Late Charge Ends Marvelous Team Europe Run

September 29, 2016, 11:24 PM ET [9 Comments]
Lewis: Team Europe
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All good things must come to an end, and Europe's cinderella story unfortunately fell just short.

Although about most of Canada was about three minutes away from freak out mode...

Europe played a stellar Game 2, which was similar to their level of play in Game 1.

Team Europe opened the scoring early in the first, with a rush play that ended up on the stick of Dman Zdeno Chara, who's shot managed to find a hole by Carey Price.




After that ensued a pretty tight checking defensive battle with limited chances going either way. Canada had a glorious opportunity for an equalizer but John Tavares fired the puck into the post, missing a yawning chasm of a net with Halak down and out.




A tight checking battle ensued, as Europe continued to clog the neutral zone and prevent Canada from gaining clean entry.

Finally the breakthrough came, but it wasn't until nail biting time for Canadian fans. Ironically, the same duo that sunk Europe in Game 1 struck again.

With Anze Kopitar off for holding, Patrice Bergeron tipped in a beautifully executed one-timer from the stick of Brent Burns to knot things at one.




Europe, however, would get their own chance as another Los Angeles King made his way to the box. This time it was Drew Doughty for a high stick for Team Canada. However, with under a minute left and the game seemingly destined for overtime, the aggressive attack from Team Europe's powerplay left them exposed as a blue line turnover sprung Canada on a shorthanded 2v2. Marchand, the trailer on the play, was found excellently by Jonathan Toews, and the Bruin made no mistake.





In a matter of just two minutes, all hope was thrashed on what was a spirited Europe effort. Overall, it was probably the most challenging game Team Canada faced, and it came rightfully in the final.

Europe, a team pretty much written off from the start, was a mere three minutes away from pushing the juggernaut Canadians to a third game. Regardless of the result, they should be proud of their performances.

Jaroslav Halak, easily Europe's MVP, had another worthwhile performance in stopping 32 of 34 shots. The Islanders netminder ends the tournament with a sparkling .941 save percentage on a total of 222 shots.

Mats Zuccarello and Anze Kopitar end the tournament tied for the Team Europe lead in points, each with four. Tomas Tatar's three goals was enough to lead Team Europe in the scoring category. And while we don't have exact ice time measures for the entire tournament, it was Kopitar, Chara, and Josi leading the way most nights for Team Europe. While Europe should have no regrets about their stellar penalty killing, their powerplay ended the tournament without scoring a single goal, and allowing the shorthander that lost them the tournament. If one thing could stand out as a bitter pill, the powerplay was probably it. However, for a throw together team of players and styles, the powerplay was probably going to be the most difficult thing to manage.

Overall Ralph Krueger, Anze Kopitar, and all of Team Europe can be proud of their overall finish. Second in a tournament as a team comprised of the smaller hockey nations is pretty darn good. They lost to a stacked Canadian team that, hey, they were favored to win it all anyways right? Congrats to Team Canada on their victory, and also Team Europe for their unexpected charge to the finals.

Now let's get to the NHL regular season!
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More from Lewis: Team Europe
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» The Triumph for Europe Continues
» Surprise of the Tournament, Team Europe has Absolutely Nothing to Lose
» Team Europe Shocks Team USA 3-0 to Open World Cup of Hockey
» Team Europe Ends Prelims on a Very High Note