Team Canada is one step closer to defending its World Championship title after pummeling Team Sweden in the Quarterfinals in St. Petersburg, Russia on Thursday.
Marks Scheifele and Stone each had a goal and two assists to propel Canada to a 6-0 victory over Sweden, who finished fifth in last year’s tournament. Goaltender Cam Talbot made 24 saves to earn his third shutout of the tournament to lead all goalies.
The loss was Sweden’s most lopsided in Quarterfinals history at the WC, since 1992.
“We were all disappointed in our play in the Finland game, but we knew that it really meant nothing,” Matt Dumba, who also scored, told reporters. “We were still going to have to play three games. We had to take care of business against the Swedes. Unfortunate for them that we played a great game tonight. They played us hard for the first bit. We were just overbearing and imposed our will on them.”
Canada recovered from their first and worst loss of the tournament, a 4-0 drubbing by Finland in their final round robin game, to face Sweden, who finished 3rd in Group B.
Canada is looking for its 25th gold medal at the World Championships and its second medal in as many years. Prior to 2015, the team finished in 5th place in four consecutive years and had not medaled since 2008 and 2009 when they won back to back silvers. Their last gold medal before 2015 came in 2007.
In 2015, Canada defeated Russia to win gold, a scenario that could happen again with Russia facing-off against a dominant Finnish club in the other Semifinal matchup.
Canada defeated the USA 5-1 in their opening game of the tournament and will face the USA in the Semifinals on Saturday.
Contributing writer and editor for the Montreal Canadiens at TheHockeyWriters.com. Head writer for Hockeytickets.ca. Ball hockey champion.
