Canada went into yesterday's match-up against Slovakia with more than this game on the line. A countries' pride was at stake and nothing less than a gold medal will satisfy this team and the nation. They moved one step closer to this ultimate goal on Friday by dispatching the Slovakian team 3-2.
The Canadians goals were early from Patrick Marleau, Brenden Morrow and Ryan Getzlaf. Most would have expected the Canadians to coast to an easy win with goalkeeper Roberto Luongo carrying a shutout into the 3rd period. Lubomir Visnovsky and Michal Handzus would give the Slovakian team two late 3rd period goals and potential giant-killing hopes. Nothing was to come of it, though, as the Canadians rode into the gold medal game.
The match-up versus the U.S. will be hotly contested and obviously physical. The U.S. will need to limit the number of shots Ryan Miller has to face if they want any chance at a repeat victory over the Canadians. The U.S. are the leading defensive team of the Olympics and thus will like their chances of keeping the game low-scoring and in their favor.
