Olympic Gold Medal Preview: Canada vs Sweden
The game that Canadians have been waiting for for 4 years finally takes place Sunday morning when Canada aims to become the first country in the NHL era to repeat as Olympic Gold Medalists. This is a battle of the last two Olympic Champions, Canada in 2010 and Sweden in 2006.
CANADA vs SWEDEN
Sunday Feb 23rd, 7:00 AM
TV: CBC
Here are the projected lineups for the game:
TEAM CANADA
Team Canada celebrates a 1-0 semi-final win over the USA PHOTO CREDIT: USA Today Sports
FORWARDS
Patrice Bergeron – Sidney Crosby – Chris Kunitz
Jamie Benn – Ryan Getzlaf – Corey Perry
Jeff Carter – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Marleau
Rick Nash – Matt Duchene – Patrick Sharp
DEFENSEMEN
Drew Doughty – Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Jay Bouwmeester – Alex Pietrangelo
GOALTENDERS
TEAM SWEDEN
Sweden celebrates their 2-1 semi-final win over Finland PHOTO CREDIT: USA Today Sports
FORWARDS
Daniel Alfredsson – Patrik Berglund – Alex Steen
Daniel Sedin – Nicklas Backstrom – Loui Eriksson
Carl Hagelin – Marcus Kruger – Jimmie Ericsson
Gabriel Landeskog – Marcus Johansson – Jakob Silfverberg
DEFENSEMEN
Erik Karlsson – Alexander Edler
Niklas Kronwall – Jonathan Ericsson
Johnny Oduya – Niklas Hjalmarsson
GOALTENDERS
STATS:
| CAN | SWE | ||
| GP | 5 | 5 | |
| W | 4 | 5 | |
| OTW | 1 | 0 | |
| OTL | 0 | 0 | |
| L | 0 | 0 | |
| GF | 14 | 17 | |
| GA | 3 | 6 | |
| PP | 2/9 (22.2%) | 7/19 (36.8%) | |
| PP Rank | 4 | 1 | |
| PK | 13/14 (92.9%) | 17/19 (89.5%) | |
| PK Rank | 1 | 4 |
Here is how the teams match up:
GOALTENDING: Carey Price has allowed just 3 goals in his 4 starts, and none of them can be considered bad goals. Henrik Lundqvist is getting more of the publicity as the guy to beat, but he gave up a weak goal in the semi-final against Finland. Each has allowed just 1 goal in the playoff rounds.
EDGE: EVEN
DEFENSE: Both of these units are deep and talented. The return of Alex Edler after he served the two games of his suspension from last year’s World Championships has bouyed the defense of Sweden and has sent talented Oliver Ekman-Larsson to the bench. Erik Karlsson leads the way offensively and with a point will most likely finish as the tournament’s leading scorer (currently tied with Phil Kessel and two points ahead of Drew Doughty). Canada is solid in both ends of the ice, as Doughty and Weber are Canada’s leading scorers. They are also allowing the fewest shots per game in the event.
EDGE: EVEN
FORWARDS: In the semi-finals these teams played very opposite systems. Once Sweden got the lead, they sat back and defended, while Canada attacked relentlessly with all 4 lines and kept the puck far away from their own end. The talent on the Canadian squad is unmatched, even without the injured John Tavares. All 4 lines could score at any time. As for Sweden, their depth was hurt by injuries, and they have done a remarkable job overcoming them so far. If Canada can repeat the forechecking performance from the semi-final, there isn’t a team that can handle that no matter how good Lundqvist is.
EDGE: CANADA
SPECIAL TEAMS: If Canada can limit the number of power plays they give to the vaunted Swedish attack, they will be far better off. Karlsson alone has more goals on the man advantage than the entire Canadian team. Sweden has uncharacteristically spent more time in the box than any other team in the Olympics. If they give Canada too many chances with the man advantage they are bound to make them pay sooner or later.
EDGE: EVEN
PREDICTION: Canada’s emotional win over the US felt like a gold medal game. That is tough to repeat, but if the Canadians come out and play that solid a game once again there isn’t a team on the planet that can beat them. A key will be to keep the mobile Swedish defensemen in their own zone defending much like they did to the Americans. It could all come down to goaltending and one bad goal or bad bounce could be the difference. All things being equal, Canada is deeper and should come away with the gold and the repeat championship.