TORONTO — They led the tournament in goals. They had the four top scorers overall and the three players tied for the lead in goals. Three of their forwards were named to the tournament all-star team.
If these gold-medal winners were not the best team of teenagers that Canada has ever assembled, it was certainly one of the most offensively talented.
“Unbelievable,” Canadian forward Sam Reinhart, who scored the eventual game-winner, said after the game. “The character in the room prevailed. The depth and character. We didn’t panic or tried not to panic throughout the game and stayed with it in the third period.
“That’s the biggest win in my life so far. I’m sure it’s going to remain that way for a while.”
Connor McDavid (three goals and 11 points), Reinhart (five goals and 11 points), Max Domi (five goals and 10 points) and defenceman Josh Morrissey (four points, plus-9) were named to the tournament’s all-star team, but really you could have picked just about anyone.
Team Canada captain Curtis Lazar had five goals and 10 points. Nic Petan had four goals and 11 points. Anthony Duclair, who used his speed to score his fourth goal of the tournament 23 seconds into the gold-medal game, had eight points. It was an embarrassment of riches that stretched throughout the lineup.
Just how deep was Canada? Consider that five players scored four or more goals. Twice Canada dismantled teams by an 8-0 score. Another three times they scored five goals. The lineup was so deep that Jake Virtanen, who scored 45 goals in the Western Hockey League last season, was playing on the third line. Even losing Robby Fabbri, another 45-goal scorer in the Ontario Hockey League last season, for the final two games went largely unnoticed.
“We definitely had a lot of weapons. It’s a pretty amazing team,” said Morrissey, who had an assist in the championship game. “Every night we had a different contributing line. Obviously the Domi-Duclair-Reinhart line was amazing. We saw Nic Petan yesterday score three goals … all through our lineup, we really had a lot of skill and that’s a huge part of our success here.”
In Monday’s gold medal game, the Canadians needed all the offence they could muster.
Canada jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Duclair and Nick Paul, who chased goaltender Igor Shestyorkin out of the game after just three shots. The Canadians kept coming in the second, with McDavid scoring on a breakaway feed from Morrissey, followed by goals from Domi and Reinhart to put Canada ahead 5-1.
“Especially as a defenceman, that’s really nice any time you can get a few more goals,” Morrissey said. “I don’t know how many we got in the tournament, but we have to be up there if not first in goals. Anytime you can get that kind of cushion from your offence, it always helps the defending part of your game as well.”
The goals proved to be necessary. Despite having a four-goal lead in the second period, the Russians scored three straight goals to make it 5-4 at the end of the period. Neither team scored in the third period.
“That’s the beauty of junior hockey,” said Lazar, who was on loan from the Ottawa Senators. “You think you have them in the bag and they just come back. That’s what the Russians did. But I think the guys did a good job of regrouping and staying calm.
“The timeout was big for us. We just took a breath together and knew we were going to be OK.”
Source:: canada.com
