Canada Squeaks Past Slovakia 3-2, Advances to Hockey Final

After his team's shocking quarter-final loss to Slovakia on Wednesday, Sweden's Henrik Sedin warned Canada: Don't underestimate the 10th-ranked Slovaks.

His words weren't wasted. The Canadian team dominated the first 50 minutes of Friday's Olympic hockey semi-final but nearly coughed up a three-goal lead in the waning minutes.

In the end, they hung on for a 3-2 win to advance to Sunday's final against the U.S.

Before the game, the shadow of an upset loomed. The Slovaks had been hitting way above their weight in this tournament, holding off offensive dynamo Russia 2-1 in the round robin and toppling defending Olympic champions Sweden 4-3 in the quarter-final.

Slovakia was outshot 29-14 in Wednesday's game but pulled off the upset by deploying a conservative, defensive style, superb goaltending and sudden flashes of shoot-to-score marksmanship.

None of these factors played significantly in Friday's matchup. The Canadians had the jump on the Slovaks from the opening minutes, racking up 11 scoring chances before the Slovaks could mount a single counter-attack. Brenden Morrow electrified the crowd with a near-goal, finding the puck in front of a wide-open Slovakian cage but chipping it over the crossbar.

Patrick Marleau emerged as a force early in the game, laying the body on Zdeno Chara, the towering journeyman blue-liner tasked with shutting down Crosby and co.

It was Marleau who would open the scoring, tipping a lob from the point by Shea Weber through the pads of Jaroslav Halak, who had boasted a 1.97 goals-against average before tonight.

Two minutes later the Canadians struck again, and on a nearly identical play. This time it was Chris Pronger at the point who slapped it toward Brendan Morrow – Canada's "junkyard dog," in the memorable words of Pierre McGuire – roving in the slot, who tipped the puck in to make it 2-0.

Curtains for Slovakia? Not quite. The team found its stride at the beginning of the second grame, applying steady pressure despite a pair of penalties against Chara and Richard Zednik.

The Canadians' third goal came during the Zednik power play. With three minutes left in the frame, Corey Perry took a shot from the slot while Morrow again provided a screen and Ryan Getzlaf netted the rebound.

The Slovaks came right back with two big chances, a point-blank shot by retired NHLer Ziggy Palffy followed by a mess in front of a sprawling Roberto Luongo that threatened to puncture his shutout.

Half way through the third, the sea of red in Canada Hockey Place began chanting "We want U.S.A." All but the Slovak offence figured the game was over.

On a quirky play that featured a delayed penalty call against Morrow after he collided knee-to-knee with a Slovakian skater, Lubomir Visnovsky threw a backhander towards the net that dribbled off Luongo's leg and in.

Then with five minutes remaining, the Canadians were caught out of position down low and Zednik took advantage, streaking toward the net and attempting a stuff. The puck popped loose and Michal Handzus batted it in.

Canada 3, Slovakia 2, and we had a hockey game.

The final minutes were pandemonium. The Slovaks rallied like mad to even the score and nearly did so several times. The Canadians fell out of position, fumbled pucks, generated no offence and mounted precious little defence.

No ribbons and bows on this game, but the Canadians nonetheless hung on to stay in the tournament.

Could the stakes be any higher for Sunday afternoon's final? Probably not.

A loss for the home team would go down as one of the biggest fiascos in Canadian sporting history. A win, meanwhile, would redeem the Olympic project as well as anoint a new generation of national hockey heroes.

Expectations are soaring south of the border, too. With a perfect record, a red-hot goalie and the phrase "Miracle on Ice" echoing like a mantra in their minds (with some help from the news media), the U.S. team has a chance to upset the established hockey order, embarrass the host nation and add another gold medal to the heap of hardware the country has amassed in Vancouver.