World Cup Quarterfinals: Lemieux, Sakic, Iginla Light It Up
Canada will play the Czech Republic on Saturday, while Friday's semifinal features the USA against Finland.
In a situation where ugly goals - tip-ins, deflections, rebounds - often make the difference, this game stood out for the creative play of the Canadian team.
It took them awhile to get going, as Slovakia set up a defensive wall in the neutral zone. But once the Canadians broke through, the game was over in a hurry. Canada's first four goals came in a 9:20 span in the second period.
Lecavalier began the scoring on the power play. He fed a long pass to Brad Richards and sprinted to the net to put away the return pass, the first of several outstanding Canadian scoring plays on the night.
Later, Lecavalier took a behind-the-back pass from Dany Heatley and set up Ryan Smyth for an easy goal.
But the big line had a night to remember. Iginla, stoned on a variety of scoring chances earlier in the tournament, scored twice. Sakic had a goal and two assists. Lemieux had two assists. Forced turnovers and perfect passes characterized the scoring plays. The trio could have easily scored two or three more.
Martin Brodeur stopped 23 shots for the shutout, but only four of five presented him with any challenge.
Although they came into the tournament as underdogs, with several key injuries, the Slovak performance has to rate as a disappointment. A forward crew that includes Marian Gaborik, Marian Hossa, Pavol Demitra and Miroslav Satan ought to score more than four goals in four games.
Semifinal Schedule:
Friday, 7:00 pm ET: Finland at USA, St. Paul
Saturday, 6:30 pm ET: Czech Republic at Canada
Complete World Cup Resources: The schedule, game recaps, rosters, the prediction, and more.
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