Canada’s men’s hockey team will face Sweden in the quarterfinals on Wednesday after defeating China 7-2 at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Tuesday.
The Canadians took advantage of China’s penalty trouble throughout the game, scoring four goals on the power play and one on a penalty shot.
But to start, China came out swinging, catching Canada off-guard with three breakaway opportunities within the first four minutes of the opening frame.
On one, Jiang Fu was hooked and was given a penalty shot, but Canadian goalie Matt Tomkins made the save to keep the score level.
Penalty problems followed afterwards, and almost seven minutes into the period, forward Jordan Weal opened the scoring for Canada on the power play. Teammate Adam Tambellini’s shot rang off the post and the puck found an open Weal, who put it in the net. Tambellini and Maxim Noreau were credited with assists on the play.
Weal scored again on a five-on-three power play almost 10 minutes into the frame. Captain Eric Staal and Tambellini were credited with assists.
With five minutes left to go in the first period, China’s An Jian found the back of the net to cut Canada’s lead down to one.
With a close game after the first 20 minutes, Canada eventually found its groove and scored five more times throughout the match – twice on the power play, once on a penalty shot and twice at even strength – to further its lead.
China did manage to score once more, and it ended 7-2 with the host nation bouncing out of the tournament.
Canada now has a 3-1 record overall heading into the quarterfinal — including a 4-2 loss to chief rivals the United States.
The team is looking to bounce back from the bronze medal it won at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and return to the streak of gold medals it had in past Games.
Canada will play Sweden in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET/5:30 a.m. PT.
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