Breathe Canadian hockey fans. Breathe. On the first night of this wonderful new term, the all-too-infamous World Junior Gold drought ended in dramatic fashion! In a rollercoaster of a game, Team Canada hung on to defeat Team Russia 5-4.
Canada got out to an early lead two minutes in with goals from New York Rangers’ regular Anthony Duclair and Sens prospect Nick Paul, chasing the starting Russian goaltender from the net. The Russians did not give up though, adding a goal near the end of the first frame to pull within one heading into intermission. Unfortunately for the Russians, Alexander Sharov also took a silly roughing penalty, giving Canada a power play heading into the second.
Though no damage was done on the power play, Connor McDavid, expected to go first in the NHL draft this June, took a gorgeous pass from teammate Josh Morissey to pad the lead to 3-1. Soon after, it was 5-1 Canada. Pack your bags Russia, better luck next time!
Not so fast! The Russian coaching staff must have given his troops one hell of a ‘pep talk’ on the bench (unfortunately audio and translation were not available). Three goals and three minutes later, an awestruck team Canada had watched a four-goal lead evaporate into a mere 1-goal advantage.
Instead of taking the game to the Russians, the Canadians looked stunned through the rest of the second and much of the third; clinging to the small shred of lead they had left. This was the most adversity the Canadians had faced all tournament, having outscored their previous (and much weaker) opposition by a practically exponential margin. Now they were literally shaking in their skates.
Coach Benoit Groulx had his work cut out for him calming the simmering pot of anxiety that Russians had suddenly brought to a boil. He must have done something right, as a combination of tight defense and timely saves by returnee Zach Fucale helped the clock tick down (a little) faster.
The nail biting back-and-forth play continued. The Russians pulled their goaltender. All to no avail. Exceptional defense by Team Canada, in particular Darnell Nurse-who had what was by far his best game of the tournament and would be recognized with player of the game honours—put Canada back on top of the hockey world!
This Canadian World Junior team was much better than other rosters throughout the 5-year drought because of their experience, depth and most importantly, skill. This team had all the experience it needed from last year: Connor McDavid, Sam Reinhart, Nic Petan, Josh Morissey, and captain Curtis Lazar… with added depth from would-be IIHF World Junior best forward (unbelievably a snub for the 2014 tournament) Max Domi, the Rangers’ Anthony Duclair, along with Junior phenoms Robby Fabbri, Brayden Point, Darnell Nurse and Shea Theodore, to name a few. Jake Virtanen, on loan from the Florida Panthers, was also a valuable asset through the tournament.
It was about time this stacked hockey powerhouse ended the unthinkable. And they did. The real challenge will be next year in Finland; for most of the Canadian players 2015 was their last tournament, certainly for the 19-year-olds who made up much of the roster. It is also unlikely that we will see Connor McDavid back on the World Junior stage after being drafted by a basement-dwelling NHL team. 2016 will be a whole new battle. But for now, we can breathe.
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