Team USA came out the blocks firing blanks on Saturday as they were outskated and outworked in a 3-0 upset loss to Team Europe in the opening game of the World Cup of Hockey.
Marian Gaborik, Leon Draisaitl and Pierre Eduoard-Bellemare each scored and goaltender Jaroslav Halak made 35 saves in Team Europe’s lopsided victory at the Air Canada Center in Toronto.
“That’s one aspect that nobody would have given us credit for is how well we can play offensively,” Team Europe coach Ralph Krueger said.
Photo: AFP
Europe next face Team Czech Republic today in Group A action of the World Cup, which was also held in 1996 and 2004.
Some think the revival of the World Cup could become a substitute for the Olympic hockey tournament if the International Ice Hockey Federation cannot convince the NHL to shut down for two weeks in the middle of the season for the 2018 Winter Games.
On Saturday, the US looked slow and flat-footed as they were unable to muster many quality scoring opportunities.
Adding to their woes was coach John Tortorella’s decision to scratch Dustin Byfuglien, who had been one of their best offensive defensemen in the pre-tournament contests.
“The part of the game that bothers me most is creating some scoring chances, some better quality scoring chances,” Tortorella said.
Team Europe’s margin of victory would have been bigger had it not been for goaltender Jonathan Quick, who made 14 saves.
The Americans get a chance to rebound when they face top-ranked Team Canada tomorrow.
The Czech Republic and Canada played later on Saturday.
German forward Draisaitl scored the prettiest goal of the contest in the second period when he finished off a back-and-forth, two-on-none rush with Nino Niederreiter.
The play started on a bad turnover by US star forward Patrick Kane in his own zone, allowing Europe defenseman Tobias Rieder, of Germany, to chip the puck up ice for the two-on-none.
Gaborik, of Slovakia, opened the scoring at 4 minutes, 19 seconds of the first period on another odd-man rush.
Defenseman Ryan McDonagh failed to keep the puck in the offensive zone, leading Gaborik on a two-on-one rush with Frans Nielsen and he made no mistake slipping the puck past Quick.
France’s Bellemare also had a strong game, rounding out the scoring by redirecting a Jannik Hansen point shot past Quick with 88 seconds left in the second.
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