SOCHI, Russia – Hours before his team would battle for an opportunity to play for gold here in Sochi, Canadian head coach Mike Babcock had an opportunity to meet with two members of the womens squad – Hayley Wickenheiser and Shannon Szabados – that rallied for gold of their own in historic fashion just a night earlier. "I just think what it does for everybody in life is real simple," said Babcock early on Friday afternoon. "You dont give in. You just keep on keeping on. Is it going to go your way every time? No. But you choose your attitude and how you perform and how hard you dig in." Nearly four years to the day of the 2010 gold medal match in Vancouver, his team dug in with its best effort of these Olympics, snuffing out the high-powered Americans for another opportunity at gold. The line between victory and failure was painfully thin at Bolshoy Ice Dome in a Friday evening clash of the tournaments two deepest teams, but ultimately Carey Price on the prowl, another Jamie Benn marker and a stiff Canadian defensive effort prevailed in a tight 1-0 win. "If we were to think about that result and visualize it at the start of the day, wed say, mission accomplished," Price remarked afterward. Their scoring struggles may have continued in victory – just four goals of offence in the past nine periods of regulation – but what Canada continued to do exceptionally well is defend, holding a potent U.S. team completely off the board. The Americans entered the night as the tournaments most fearsome offensive attack, scoring 20 goals in their first four games including five alone from Phil Kessel. But they were stifled by the Canadians, who have allowed, incredibly, just three goals and only two at even-strength. "Thats been something from Day 1 that weve really believed in and trust that thats a big part of having success here," said Sidney Crosby. "You see the games from every team at this point are pretty tight. Thats a common theme. And theres not much separating each team." Though the pace was absolutely frantic, the Canadians generally managed the feared American speed. Much of that effort came from simply controlling possession, forcing the likes of Kessel and Patrick Kane to defend a lot more than theyd like. "We forced them to play in the defensive zone a lot," said Crosby. "Theyve got a lot of guys who are skilled and create a lot of speed, but I think we did a good job of keeping them in there for at least 20 seconds in shifts. Hopefully that played a part in taking away their energy offensively." Toews and linemates, Jeff Carter and Patrick Marleau, drew the assignment of the slowing the Kessel line – which also featured Joe Pavelski, who had the most goals in the NHL since Jan. 1 and James van Riemsdyk – and did so in part by back-checking with fevered passion, a commitment that was shared by the rest of the Canadian forward contingent. Kessel had a rush or two of consequence early, but was held to four shots and none in the final frame. "It was just work ethic," said Toews. "It was good sticks, I think we had active sticks … we didnt stop moving our feet, and we were committed to doing the job right. Our penalty kill was great tonight, too. Those are the things, whether youre winning a Stanley Cup or an Olympic gold medal, those are the things you need to do." Zach Parise led the U.S. with eight shots and had one of the better opportunities to score in the second, redirecting a Patrick Kane pass attempt on Price, one of 31 shots turned aside by the 26-year-old in his first Olympic shutout. Price was facing the biggest and most scrutinized test of his career and he aced it, outdueling the always impressive Jonathan Quick. A stoic and unwavering personality, Price, a native of Anahim Lake, B.C., was cool in his fourth start of these Games and made the difficult look effortless. Maybe his most impressive stop of the evening saw John Carlson robbed by the glove in a scoreless opening frame. "I thought he was great," said Babcock. "The game was close. Its 1-0, its tight, and all those shots coming he had to make big saves, just like Quick did. Its not like there wasnt chances tonight. There was chances both ways, its just that the goalies are so good in todays world it makes it hard to get pucks by them." "Im just soaking in this moment right now," said Price, who owns a .963 save percentage thus far. Benn proved the only player on either team to score. The 24-year-old scored his second goal (and second game-winner) by redirecting a Jay Bouwmeester point shot past Quick, who was often awesome himself in turning aside 36 shots, including all 16 in a busy first frame. Only four Canadian forwards have scored with a game to go and if there is a concern heading into Sundays final with Sweden, its just that. Like the quarterfinal game against Latvia, there were numerous chances against the Americans on this night with only one resulting in a goal. Patrice Bergeron had an early backhand opportunity eschewed by Quicks blocker. Carter was stopped by the pads moments later. Two good chances for Patrick Sharp, who offered energy on an effective fourth line with Matt Duchene and Rick Nash, also failed to materialize into anything other than a shot or two on goal. "Weve had unbelievable opportunities and still havent finished," Babcock. "Were going to finish. We just hope we dont run out of time." A journey that started six months ago at an orientation camp in Calgary will conclude Sunday against the injury-riddled, overlooked and still dangerous Swedes, who topped Finland in the other semifinal. In line with Babcocks desired mantra at these Olympics, the Canadians have gotten better every day and know that will have to continue if theyre to repeat with gold for the first time in more than 60 years and also join the undeterred womens squad, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit to capture their fourth consecutive gold on Thursday night. "Each and every level of the Stanley Cup playoffs, youve got to keep getting better and its the same here," said Babcock, who will face four of his Red Wing players in the gold medal match. "What I do know about the Swedes and I know lots of them actually, theyre good players and they play with no ego and itll be about the team. Theyve been really good here. Theyre going to be a hard test. We understand that."
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Teemu Selanne Jersey . -- Isaiah Pead took a stutter step forward, then raced to the left sideline and travelled 60 yards up the field before finally getting tripped up by a leg tackle. ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Vancouver Canucks are at the point in the season where every loss could end their playoff hopes. Those hopes are still alive after a big road win over Minnesota. David Booth scored two unassisted goals and Eddie Lack made 29 saves to lead Vancouver over the Wild 5-2 on Wednesday. Zack Kassian, Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler also scored for Vancouver as the Canucks try to make a late push to overtake Phoenix and Dallas for the Western Conferences final wild-card playoff spot. "Its huge, were in a do-or-die position," Alexandre Burrow said. "If we would have lost this game we probably would have been out of the race." Minnesota outshot Vancouver 31-19 and got goals from Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter, but lost its third straight at home. Booth scored for the second consecutive game after going scoreless in his previous 32. On his first goal, Booth took the puck the length of the ice after a faceoff and fired it past Darcy Kuemper. Booths second goal broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and came after Jared Spurgeon whiffed on a pass in the Wild zone, leading to a bad turnover and a point-blank look for Booth. "We didnt generate a ton of shots, but we were able to capitalize on the ones we did," Booth said. Minnesota, currently holding the first wild-card spot in the West, controlled play for most of the first two periods, but failed to capitalize on four power plays and fell behind 3-1. Even though his team was generating chances early, Wild coach Mike Yeo was nervous. "Especially in that first period, were out chancing them, were outshooting them, but still. Just didnt quite have the right feel," he said. Ilya Bryzgalov took over for the slumping Kuemper after two periods. Kuemper allowed three goals in 12 shots, the fifth time in his last seven start hes allowed at least three goals. "Dont feel good about that one," Kuemper said. "Obviously we were controlling the play and to finnd ourselves down 3-1, yeah Ive got to help the guys out a little bit better.ddddddddddddquot; The switch didnt get Minnesota going. Vancouver killed an early third period power play, and then put the game away on Sedins goal at 11:12 to make it 4-1. "I didnt think we played great, but we stuck with it and at the end we came out with a big win," Sedin said. "For sure, its something to build." The goal was Sedins first in his last 23 games and his first point in his last 13. Coyles goal was his third in three games. The centre had scored only once in his previous 24 games. Lack got a little help in the second period from Alexander Edler. Zach Parise stuffed the puck between Lacks pads, but just before it crossed the goal line, Edler swept it away. "We know its do-or-die now and we got to come up with the same kind of effort tomorrow," Lack said. Vancouver has won six of its last nine after losing 11 of 12. Both Phoenix and Dallas were idle on Wednesday. The Canucks now have 78 points, Dallas 79 and Phoenix 82. Henrik Sedin missed the game with a leg injury and didnt make the trip. As Minnesota tries to hang on to its playoff position, Yeo has to answer questions about his goaltending situation. "I want to be careful on that one. Im not saying that we cant be any better between the pipes, but at the same time theres some quality chances that were giving up," he said. "Obviously, we have to do our part to make sure those guys are in the right frame of mind." NOTES: Wild G Niklas Backstrom and F Jason Zucker each underwent successful surgeries yesterday and should be ready for the start of the 2014-15 season. Backstrom had core muscle surgery and Zucker had a tendon in his left quadriceps repaired. ... F Alexandre Burrows played for Vancouver after missing Sundays game with a hand injury. ... The Sedins have only played in two games together in March. ... The Wild beings a four-game road trip in St. Louis on Thursday.
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