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First Intermission Thoughts
Remember the Neutral Zone Trap? That's what much of the half of the first period felt like. An old Devils game, with forwards challenging and harassing the puck carriers in the neutral zone. But it wasn't some system or method of disruption. Sloppy passes, sloppy play, bad stickhandling marked a period where the skaters may as well have been on slush.
The Canadians carried the play, and kept pressure on Jaroslav Halak, but Halak remained steadfast in net. Despite the disproportionate shot totals, with six and a half minutes left the score was still knotted at zero. Shea Weber put the puck towards the net. The high knuckling puck was redirected in air by Patrick Marleau to open the scoring. Halak had good position of Weber's shot, but was totally unprepared for the tip.
Slovakia had an acceptable period disrupting Canada and capitalizing on Candian misplays. But they failed to generate any discernible offensive punch. What's worse that on at least two occasions they showed little taste for a scrum to control the puck in the Canadian end of the ice. They also did a horrendous job of keeping opposing players out of Halak's line of sight with shooters. The mistake of the first Canadian goal came back to haunt Slovakia again.
Chris Pronger sent a drive to the net allowing Brenden Morrow to tip it past Halak. A pair of goals on re-directs gives Slovakia an opportunity for adjustment. However, Canada has worked out their jitters. They will not be as tentative in the second period as they were in the first ten minutes. Halak weathered the softest part of the storm. The real fury is about to begin.
Scoring Summary
- 13:30 Patrick Marleau from Shea Weber and Scott Niedermayer
- 15:17 Brenden Morrow from Chris Pronger and Ryan Getzlaf
Penalties
No Penalties in the First Period
Shots
Slovakia 4
Canada 10
 Joe Tetreault blogs about sports, culture, business/technology and current events at TetreaultVision in addition to being the Editor for Bloguin's Olympic Hockey Blog.
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