Sunday, December 21, 2008

Canada 3 , Finland 2 after two

Late getting this one going tonight, but I was able to watch the entire second period of Canada's exhibition with Finland, with the third period forthcoming. The first few minutes had a slow feel to it, as the Fins played a tight defensive zone. At about the halfway point, goals and hits opened the game up some. Tyler Ennis scored after a nice play by Cody Hodgson for Canada's goal in the opening period as the two teams entered the second frame tied 1-1. Tyler Myers looked very solid in the period. When he gets the puck, he skates it up fluidly against the plugged Finnish zone. Again, we marvel at this skating ability. Crisp starts and stops, gliding in and out of his end. Defensively, he quickly collects pucks and advances it up ice. I saw his efforts lead to two scoring opportunities against Finnish tender Juha Metsola. Scoring in the period opened when Tomi Sallinen scored down low on Dustin Tokarski to give Finland a 2-1 lead. Minutes later, the line of Jordan Eberle-Cody Hodgson-Zach Boychuk connected with a nice rush resulting in the big-bodied Hodgson burying a Boychuk rebound for a 2-2 tie. Minutes after that, Brett Sonne pounced on a Stefan Della Rovere wraparound to give Canada the 3-2 lead.