MILAN — Only minutes away from going from clear favorites to win Olympic gold to crashing out before the medal round, the Canadian men’s hockey team desperately tried to steady its churning nerves
Outwardly, Canadian players tried to project an attitude of confidence and optimism on the bench after Czechia’s Ondrej Palat scored to put the Canadians down a goal with less than eight minutes left in Wednesday’s quarterfinal. And yet even one of the most star-laden collections of hockey players ever assembled is still susceptible to doubt creeping in.
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“You can’t entirely avoid it,” Canada defenseman Drew Doughty said. “You look down the bench, you see the players we have on our team and you know no one’s going to quit and we have a great chance of coming back. But as the clock keeps ticking, you’re also like, ‘Holy f***. This is not ideal.’”
The mood on the Canadian bench went from despair to delirium with 3:27 left in regulation when Nick Suzuki saved his team with a deflected goal. With Canada pressing for the tying goal, Suzuki got a stick on a Devon Toews wrist shot from the point and redirected it through the legs of Czech goaltender Lukáš Dostál.
The sight of the puck hitting the back of the net produced a roar from the pro-Canadian crowd that could be heard outside Santagiulia Arena. Arms shot into the air. Flags waved. Grown men danced at their seats and exchanged hugs.
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While Canada didn’t secure the win until Mitch Marner scored less than two minutes into overtime, Suzuki’s goal is the one that will live on in hockey lore long after these Olympics are over. As Canada coach Jon Cooper told reporters after the game, “Our country needed a goal. Nick Suzuki answered.”
“It was a great job by Devin putting it on my forehand side and letting me bring it back toward the net,” Suzuki said. “I wanted to do something to help the team, so it was obviously a big goal to tie it up and send it to overtime.”
While Suzuki is one of the elite two-way centers in the NHL, the Montreal Canadiens playmaker hasn’t been able to showcase his array of skills so far during these Olympics. He has been forced to play on the wing as a result of Canada’s mind-blowing collection of talent at the center position.
With Brad Marchand set to rejoin the Canada lineup for Wednesday’s quarterfinals, there was even pregame talk of Suzuki being a potential healthy scratch. Hours later, all of Canada should be rejoicing that Cooper didn’t subscribe to that theory and kept his team captain on the ice.
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The heroics from Suzuki actually started even before he found some space in front of Dostál’s net. He dumped the puck into the attacking zone and then chose to chase it in the corner while the rest of his linemates headed to the bench for a line change.
Asked why he also didn’t go to the bench, Suzuki explained that he was just hoping to “give some time for fresh guys to come out there.” Suzuki did far more than that, outbattling Czechia’s Filip Hronek for the loose puck and keeping possession alive.
“That was an elite play winning that puck,” Marchand said. “It’s not just the tip. It’s the entire play.”
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What happened next will be replayed forever, especially if Canada manages to go on to win Olympic gold. Suzuki fed Seth Jarvis in the corner. Jarvis set up a wide open Toews just inside the blue line. And Toews wristed his shot in Suzuki’s direction just as the 26-year-old had moved into space in front of the net.
“I never stopped believing,” Doughty insisted.
Added Marchand, “I’ve seen him do that against my teams plenty of times. It’s great when he’s on your side.”
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