Gold Medal Game- Canada vs. Russia. It just sounds right.
Team Canada, including Ottawa Senators Curtis Lazar and Nick Paul, will go for Gold at the World Junior Championships tonight in Toronto and as is so often the case, they’ll have to get past the Russians to do it.
Canada has steamrolled their way through this tournament so far but as we’ve learned any time these two countries meet in international competition, a game against the Russians is never easy. And having finished out of the medals the last two years and without a gold in five years, this Canadian team certainly shouldn’t take anything for granted.
It’s been sort of a strange tournament for the Russians, who were underwhelming in the round robin portion of things but have taken their game to another level in the elimination round. They’ve had as tough a path to Gold as possible yet have found a way to the tournament’s final game. Impressive wins over the United States and Sweden prove that this Russian team can beat anyone in this tournament, Canada included..
On the Canadian side of things, the tournament has yet to present any significant challenge, outside of the New Year’s Eve game against the United States. Even in the elimination games, Canada has had a pretty easy time of things, matching up against Denmark in the quaterfinals and Slovakia in the semis. Adversity is a good thing in a tournament like this and unfortunately for Canada, they haven’t faced much of it so far.
From a Senators perspective, it certainly has been fun to watch Curtis Lazar and Nick Paul in this tournament. Lazar has looked fantastic on a line with Connor McDavid and seems to be getting better with each game. He’s got five goals and nine points in six games and hasn’t stopped smiling since he joined the team. It’s been fun to listen to the National media rave about just how mature Lazar really is and what a great player he’s going to be with the Senators. Meanwhile, Nick Paul has shown flashes of dominance on the third/fourth line and certainly given Sens fans plenty of reason to get excited about his potential. He’s a big centre with soft hands and while his skating isn’t going to wow anybody, he’s got terrific hockey sense and always seems to be in the right position on the ice.
Key to tonight’s game? Goaltending. Zach Fucale hasn’t really been tested in this tournament and will probably have his busiest game of the tournament against a talented group of Russian forwards. If he can outplay the goalie at the other end of the rink, Canada wins Gold.
Here’s how Canada is expected to line up for this one.
Domi-Reinhart-Duclair
Petan-McDavid-Lazar
Point-Paul-Virtanen
Ritchie-Gauthier-Crouse
Nurse-Theodore
Morrissey-Bowey
Heatherington-Hicketts
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 8:00 PM with the game available on TSN.
GO CANADA GO!
