Marchand, unlikely line spark Canada comeback in Olympic semifinal
Marchand, Bennett and Wilson, each known to be a rabble-rouser on the ice, finally got the call to go out together with 9:47 left in the third period and Canada trailing by a goal.
“We wanted to go out there and just make it hard,” Wilson said. “I thought we did a good job chipping in and creating pressure and trying to turn the game.”
That’s exactly what they did, starting the play that led to Shea Theodore‘s game-tying goal at 10:34 of the third period in an eventual 3-2 win that put Canada in the gold medal game against the United States on Sunday (8:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, NBC, ICI Tele, CBC Gem, CBC, SN [JIP], TSN [JIP], RDS2).
The play started with Bennett taking the offensive zone face-off and getting the puck to Wilson, who got it to Theodore, who then passed to defenseman Travis Sanheim for a shot that was blocked in front and went behind the net. That’s where Marchand, battling two Finns, dug it out and slid it back up the boards to Wilson, who took a shot that was blocked and went to Theodore, who then gave it back to Wilson. The Washington Capitals forward then threw a wrist shot on net that hit a crowd in front and went to Sanheim, who fed Theodore for a one-timer that beat Finland goalie Juuse Saros.
“We drew up a play. It worked out. We got the puck back. We got a lot of traffic, a lot of pucks to the net,” Bennett said, “and then ‘Theo’ puts in a huge one for us. It’s just guys coming up clutch.”
