Canadian players celebrate after Nathan MacKinnon of Canada scores the third – and winning – goal against Finland on Friday.Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters
Jon Cooper calls it his impact line. The coach of Team Canada doesn’t like to refer to the depth forwards on his roster as a third or fourth line. But when the going gets tough, he likes to assemble three guys who can create havoc.
The job of the impact line is to disrupt things, to literally dislodge the game from its prevailing narrative.
On Friday, with Canada trailing 2-1 to a tough, defensively minded Finland squad, which seemed to be thwarting Canada’s all-star offence by clogging up the neutral zone, Cooper went to work.
In a mix that hadn’t been seen yet in Milan, he put body cruncher Tom Wilson on with serial instigators Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand, with an eye to blowing things up.
The offensively gifted trio of Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini has been dubbed Cooper’s nuclear option. This new line of grinders was more like a hand grenade.
And with Canada’s Olympic hopes in peril in a must-win semi-final, the impact line lived up to its name, giving the team a badly needed boost at a crucial time and helping the squad advance to Sunday’s gold-medal game against the United States.
Connor McDavid of Team Canada controls the puck against Finland's Anton Lundell on Friday.Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
After spending the third period slamming the Finns into the boards, getting in the personal space of Finnish goaltender Juuse Saros, and generally turning the tide for Canada, the line helped tie the game at two goals apiece.
With Marchand frustrating Saros in front of the net, defenceman Travis Sanheim sent a pass to blueliner Shea Theodore, who one-timed a slapshot at the net.
The puck sailed past Saros with Marchand screening him. The Finns briefly considered challenging the goal, upset that Marchand may have interfered with Saros, but the marker stood.
“I think we’re all guys that understand the energy side of the game and we’re a line that’s going to give it our all every single shift. We’re going to try and swing the momentum if we can, just try and wear them down shift after shift,” Bennett said.
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Marchand said the three were eager to inflict themselves on the game.
“We all kind of have an idea of how each other plays so we can read off each other pretty well,” Marchand said. “That was kind of what we were put together for, to create energy and be defensively responsible. And it was just a pleasure to be out there.”
It was the second close call for Team Canada, after it narrowly escaped being sent home by Czechia in the quarter-final. Trailing late in that game, the Canadians needed a masterful tip by Nick Suzuki in the dying minutes to tie the score, before Mitch Marner won it in overtime, splitting three Czech defenders on a dash to the net.
Shea Theodore scores Canada's second goal.David W Cerny/Reuters
After Theodore’s goal, Canada, playing without injured captain Sidney Crosby, then went on the power play with just under three minutes left in the game.
This time, the superstars went to work.
With seconds to go, McDavid, who had taken over for Crosby as captain, found MacKinnon on the flank, who hammered a one-timer past Saros, putting Canada up 3-2 with 36 seconds remaining.
For the second game in a row, Canada narrowly escaped elimination and will now play for the gold medal on Sunday against the U.S.
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But it was the grinders who shared in the spotlight for tying the game.
Cooper said after the game that while the superstars are expected to score, “It’s only fitting, with the work ethic, that other group was the line that scored the goal for us.”
“It’s just lines that can tilt the ice, and just tilt the ice in different ways,” Cooper said. “Everything’s not always about what you put in the net and how many scoring chances you have. Some of it’s about intimidation, leaning on teams, making them think, making them tired, and setting up shifts for the next group.”
“And that’s what that line is fabulous for.”
Cooper says Marchand, right, and his 'impact line' helped tilt the ice for Canada.Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Wilson said the three only learned they might be lining up together a few hours before the game when Cooper walked by him and Bennett doing pre-game stretches and said he was thinking about it.
“We can play kind of controlled chaos out there. Guys that you hate playing against during the season, but when you get together as a line, it can be a lot of fun,” Wilson said.
“We wanted to go out there and just make it hard on the Finns. And I thought we did a good job at chipping in and creating pressure and trying to turn the game.”
When Cooper called their names mid-game, there was no instruction needed.
“I think we just all looked each other in the eye and we knew what we were going to do: fast, hard, create chaos, play physical, get pucks to the net, and good things would happen,” Wilson said. “Simple, fast, hard hockey.”
Bennett concurred.
“We know what we have to do,” Bennett said. “Nothing needs to be said.”
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