The energy was incredible for this one. Even before the players hit the ice the Swedish fans were in a fan battle with the Russian fans than gave this game the first true "Olympic" feel we have seen. With Teams like North America and Europe being added it felt good to watch what amounted to an "original six" of international hockey feel.
As the game went on it was really Victor Hedman, the guy who wasn't good enough for the Olympics, taking over the game. Hedman is the real deal. He plays both ends of the ice and loves to get the puck on net from the point. He is the Swedish Chris Pronger. Plain and Simple.
The Russians played a very tentative game. There is no doubt they are a great passing team made up of players with a ton of vision, but they need to be more selfish when it comes to shooting the puck. Three times in the last five minutes players passed up glorious chances between the circles that were baffling.. If your name is Panarin, Malkin, or Ovechkin and you have the puck cleanly between the circles you should NEVER pass the puck off...especially to a player at a worse angle than you have.
Even prior to Ovechkin's goal which halved the Swedish lead, the Russians looked hesitant to put the puck on Markstrom. Russia's goal didn't even look like a direct shot, but more of a wrist shot intended for possible deflections.
Watching this game we got to debating in the press box the question on everyone's mind: "Who exactly is the best defenseman on this talent full Swedish blue line?"
The obvious answer would be Erik Karlsson, right? After all, the argument in the NHL came down to Karlsson vs. Doughty this past season. There is no downside to Karlsson's game, but if I could take one of these players I would take Hedman. In his own zone Hedman is more dominant and I also like the fact that Hedman isn't afraid to shoot from everywhere, while Karlsson can sometimes over-pass at points...
What say you?
Next up...Team North America vs. Finland.