Final, Canada 6-0: And that’ll do it.
Team Canada rolls to a 6-0 victory on the back of a Roberto Luongo shutout and a natural hat trick by Jeff Carter.
Canada will now face its toughest test of the preliminary round Sunday against Finland, which routed Norway on Friday to improve to 2-0.
Austria will conclude pool play against the Norwegians on Sunday.
Third period, 8:47, Canada 6-0 Nearly nine minutes into the third, Canada’s advantage remains at six goals.
Both teams continue to attack (remember: goal differential), but Lange and Luongo have been able to keep everything in front of them.
Third period, 0:01, Canada 6-0: The third period is underway. Austria has mercifully ended Bernhard Starkbaum’s night, as backup Mathias Lange, who played his college hockey at RPI, takes over in net.
Second intermission, Canada 6-0: The Canadians kept pressing right up until the final horn, but they were unable to push the extra point past a battered Starkbaum.
Sorry, Austria. Goal differential trumps sportsmanship.
Twenty minutes of hockey left to play in Sochi.
Second period, 16:48, Canada 6-0: That’s the opposite of what Austria needed.
A sweet toe drag by Ryan Getzlaf in the Austrian zone results in a shorthanded goal and stretches Canada’s lead to a half-dozen.
Jeff Carter was standing on the doorstep, looking for his fourth goal of the game, but Getzlaf needed no help to beat Starkbaum.
Second period, 15:10, Canada 5-0: If Austria cannot put one past Luongo on this penalty, this game is truly over. Jamie Benn draws blood with a high stick, resulting in a double-minor penalty and giving Austria a four-minute power play.
Second period, 14:33, Canada 5-0: Hats off to Jeff Carter.
The Los Angeles Kings star scores his third goal of the game — and third in a row — by finishing off a mad flurry of shots in front of Bernhard Starkbaum.
Corey Perry was dragged down on a breakaway just a minute later and awarded a penalty shot, but Starkbaum stood tall to deny the Anaheim Duck.
Second period, 10:42, Canada 4-0: The Austrians are in desperate need of a spark, but they couldn’t find one on that man-advantage. Two minutes, zero shots.
Second period, 8:42, Canada 4-0: Bergeron is called for a hook. Austria will go on the power play.
Second period, 4:09, Canada 4-0: And again.
Carter scores for a second time in less than two minutes with a wraparound goal to make it 4-0 Canada. Carter’s goal went right between the legs of an out-of-position Starkbaum, who might not be long for this game.
Marleau and Alex Pietrangelo are credited with the assists.
Second period, 2:39, Canada 3-0: Carter atones for his penalty by immediately lighting the lamp for Canada.
Carter created a 3-on-2 rush with Sidney Crosby and Patrick Marleau right as he exited the box, and he was able to stuff home the puck after a Marleau shot hit the post.
Second period, 0:29, Canada 2-0: Jeff Carter is playing well today, but he’ll head to the box for tripping just 29 seconds into the period. Austria will have its first power play.
Second period, 0:01, Canada 2-0: We are off and running in the second period.
First intermission, Canada 2-0: Michael Grabner’s bid to bring Austria to within one beat Roberto Luongo but clanged off the corner of the cage. That was Austria’s best scoring chance of the first period, which ends with Canada holding a two-goal lead.
Coach Mike Babcock must have drilled his team on the importance of a quick start, because Canada came out like a rocket today.
The Benn-Tavares-Bergeron line has been outstanding again, as have the two goal-scorers, Shea Weber and Drew Doughty. Jeff Carter also has upped his game, perhaps in response to his demotion to the bottom of the depth chart. He’s skating with much more urgency than he did against Norway.
First period, 14:10, Canada 2-0: Ryan Getzlaf and Matt Duchene nearly combine to stretch Canada’s advantage to three goals midway through the man-advantage, but the young Avalanche star is unable to get a quality shot off in front of Starkbaum.
Despite facing near-constant pressure for two minutes, Austria is able to kill the penalty.
First period, 12:10, Canada 2-0: Power-play time for Canada. Thomas Hundertpfund heads to the box for hooking.
First period, 10:12, Canada 2-0: This is looking like the blowout we were expecting yesterday.
Shea Weber took a drop pass from Corey Perry and unleashed a vicious slap shot that whizzed over the glove of Starkbaum.
Both he and Doughty have now scored in both of Canada’s Olympic contests.
First period, 5:24, Canada 1-0: Canada does not wait nearly as long to strike first here today, with Drew Doughty beating Austria goaltender Bernhard Starkbaum five-hole for the game’s first goal.
The goal came off a face-off in the Austria zone, with Jonathan Toews getting the assist.
The puck might have been tipped on its way to the net, but Doughty, who also scored Canada’s third and final goal against Norway, is credited with the tally for now.
First period, 4:00, 0-0: Austria is putting a lot of pressure on Roberto Luongo early on, with NHLers Michael Grabner and Michael Raffl leading the charge.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: We are underway from Sochi.
11:47 a.m.: Here’s what the line combinations and pairings are expected to look like for Team Canada.
The most noticeable tweak is switching Martin St. Louis — Thursday’s 13th forward — to the first line in place of Jeff Carter alongside Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby.
As St. Louis did against Norway, Carter likely will rotate in often with the fourth line of Jamie Benn, John Tavares and Patrice Bergeron.
Kunitz–Crosby–St. Louis
Duchene-Getzlaf–Perry
Marleau–Toews–Nash
Benn–Tavares–Bergeron
Carter
Keith–Weber
Vlasic–Doughty
Bouwmeester–Pietrangelo
Subban
Luongo
Smith
11:30 a.m.: The lineup won’t be the only thing changed for Team Canada in this game.
Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that Canada will be debuting its black alternate sweaters, which, you all should know, are terrible.
[tweet https://twitter.com/mirtle/status/434354105012592642 align=’center’]
11 a.m. ET: Team Canada’s performance against Norway in Thursday’s Olympic opener wasn’t exactly dominant, but it still resulted in a 3-1 win. Sidney Crosby & Co. will try to make it 2-for-2 on Friday, when they take on Austria.
The Austrian roster is — like the Norwegian one — largely made up of overseas players, but Austria does boast a few recognizable NHL names. One of them is New York Islanders forward Michael Grabner, who recorded a hat trick in Austria’s tournament-opening loss to Finland.
Fellow Islanders forward Thomas Vanek added an assist in the loss, and Philadelphia Flyers winger Michael Raffl chipped in with two helpers of his own.
Canada’s lineup will look slightly different than it did against the Norwegians, as Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban and Colorado Avalanche forward Matt Duchene — both of whom sat out the first game — have been inserted in place of Dan Hamhuis and Patrick Sharp.
Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo — one of the heroes of the 2010 gold-medal squad — will start in net, with Phoenix Coyotes netminder Mike Smith backing him up. Montreal’s Carey Price, who started the opener, will watch from the press box.
Puck drop is set for noon ET.
Photo via Twitter/@HuffPostCanada
