Team USA Desperately Needs to Beat the Canucks Tonight
Just one game into the tournament Team USA finds itself in quite the predicament. Following their opening 3-0 lethargic loss to Team Europe, the United States now needs to beat the heavily favored Canadians on their home soil just to have a chance at making the knockout round.
Quite simply put, the United States looked awful against Team Europe despite controlling most of the possession statistics and holding a 35-17 shots on goal advantage. Several key US turnovers directly led to European goals and American keeper Jonathan Quick didn't play up to his elite standard. So now, after Europe beat the Czech Republic in overtime yesterday, the US is on the outside looking in. They need to win their next 2 games to move on to the medal round, and taking down their surging Northern neighbors, fresh off a 6-0 drubbing of the Czechs, will be no easy feat.
Many pundits have complained that US coach John Tortorella focused too much on role players and physicality when he constructed Team USA's roster, and not enough on scoring. But that really isn't the case. The top 4 American scorers (who are older than 23) from last season: Patrick Kane, Joe Pavelski, Max Pacioretty, and Kyle Palmieri are on the team. Everyone on the US roster can put the puck in the net, so blaming the squad personnel for USA's struggles is a weak excuse. Deep, physical, defensive-minded teams, who lack world-class scoring, often have postseason success, just look at the Los Angeles Kings. The fact of the matter is that the US was probably looking ahead to their date with Canada, and thought they could beat Team Europe on autopilot. As we all know now, that was certainly not the case and Team Europe has proved that they are not to be underestimated. The loss to Team Europe was more a product of the Americans' mentality than their roster's ability. They have the talent and depth to win this tournament, and any presumed 'lack of scoring threats' on the roster is a complete fallacy.
While the United States is uber-talented, they are not as talented as the Canadians, who are the best team in the World. But John Tortorella built his team for this matchup. He included bruisers and agitators and role players because he understands that you need a complete team effort in order to beat the Canadians. The USA would have a tougher time in this matchup if they tried to match Canada's skill pound for pound. The cleaner the game is, the more the advantage goes to the Canadians. Torts recognizes that if his third and fourth line guys can rough up Crosby and co. and frustrate their big scorers like Stamkos and Marchand, the Canadian advantage begins to fade. The keys for Team USA tonight will be to play disciplined when they have possession and avoid the lazy turnovers that killed them last game, dictate the physicality of the game - finish their checks and bother Canada's scorers, and they have to capitalize on any quality scoring chances they have, especially on their Power Play, because against a stout Canadian defense that has yet to concede a goal, you just don't know how many quality chances you're going to get. I have no doubt that Jonathan Quick will be back to his usual, stellar, self tonight in goal for the Americans, but the US must play superb defense in front of Quick to try and limit the amount of action he faces. Quick is a top 3 goaltender in the world, but if Canada can get 50 shots on net, like they did against the Czechs, it will be tough to keep them all out. The United States might be the best equipped team to beat Canada, but it will take a complete team effort and nearly flawless execution to defeat their North American rivals on their home turf. The Americans are backed into a corner and nothing is more dangerous than a team with nothing to lose.
