Leksand, Sweden — Luc Bourdon could not bring himself to watch.
The Canadian defenceman gave his team new life with a power-play goal with 7 minutes 41 seconds remaining in regulation time against the United States Wednesday. And then, with the game being decided in a shootout, the native of Shippagan, N.B., wouldn't survey the stirring situation.
Instead, he sat on the bench and looked down as his teammates stood up and anxiously soaked in the drama.
"I just couldn't watch. I was too nervous," said Bourdon, whose team pulled out a 2-1 victory over the United States after the shootout went seven deep in their world junior hockey tournament semi-final.
Team Canada goalie Carey Price, left, jumps in the arms of Marc Stall and Steve Downie, right, after beating Team USA in a shootout on Wednesday in Leksand, Sweden. (Jacques Boissinot/CP)
Related Articles
Internet Links
What Bourdon missed was a dead-eye display of shooting by Canadian forward Jonathan Toews as Canada scored five times and the United States four.
Toews was 3-for-3 in the shootout and scored the deciding goal after Canadian goaltender Carey Price stopped Peter Mueller on the final U.S. shot.
Mueller had beaten Price in his two previous attempts, but this time the Canadian goalie was able to shut his pads to gain the victory and send Canada to a fourth consecutive gold-medal game.
The Canadians roared off the bench to mob Price after the final save, and after an emotional moment as O Canada was played, they gathered in a corner of the ice and raised their sticks to honour a throng of Canadian fans who made up most of the 2,376 in attendance at the Ejendals Arena.
"I can't put it into words," 19-year-old Price said when asked to describe his feelings during the shootout. "Playing hockey, I usually don't get nervous. But this was really nerve-racking."
Mueller plays for the Everett Silvertips and against Price in the Western Hockey League. Mueller scored his first goal in the WHL against Price, who plays for the Tri-City Americans. "He can snap it quickly," the goalie said. "So I tried to stay low. I figured he would go 5-hole and I was able to close it up."
Price was asked how he approached the shootout, and he held up his right hand with his fingers crossed.
There was no luck involved in Toews's standout shooting — he beat U.S. goalie Jeff Frazee with three bull's-eye wrist shots. It was the way to score on the U.S. netminder, as his only two stops were when Canadians Steve Downie and Bryan Little attempted dekes.
The Canadian juniors will play Friday's tournament final against Russia, which disposed of Sweden 4-2 in the other semi-final Wednesday.
Canada has to get its offence on track if it has designs on extending its winning streak to 18 games and claim its third consecutive gold medal.
The Canadians have scored only 15 times in five games here, and they waited 52:19 Wednesday before Bourdon tied the score with the only goal in nine power-play attempts against the United States.
"We had to score sooner or later," Bourdon said. "They were really good with their blocked shots and that was a big part of their penalty killing. It was about time we scored. I had a great screen in front of the net."
Both teams fumbled and bumbled offensively through three periods of regulation time, as the focus was more on keeping opponents in check and limiting scoring chances. Canada edged the United States in shots on goal 25-23 after three periods.
But the United States came alive in the overtime session with 12 more shots, due in part to a high-sticking penalty to Canadian defenceman Kristopher Letang. Price, however, made sure Letang was let off the hook with some standout netminding.
"It was the longest two minutes of my life," Letang said.
The United States took a 1-0 lead in the second period when a pass attempt by captain Taylor Chorney bounced in off Canadian defenceman Marc Staal. It was the first time the Canadians had trailed in a game all tournament, and only the second power-play goal they had given up in 28 man-disadvantage situations.
"That game could have gone either way," Canadian forward Andrew Cogliano said. "I guess we're fans of the shootout now. If we lost, I don't know."
"It was a big win for us because it was the first time we have faced adversity," Bourdon added.
The Russians will no doubt give Canada their biggest test of the tournament. Like Canada, they also have a 5-0 record, but have only briefly trailed 1-0 twice in the tournament and have outscored their opponents by a total of 24-5.
