Tomkins, Tambellini lead Canada into Olympic hockey quarterfinals

After a two-game sweep over the host nation, the Canadian Olympic men's hockey team is heading into the quarterfinal stage in Beijing.

Adam Tambellini led the way with five points and Matt Tomkins had 26 saves as Canada defeated China 7-2 in the qualification round of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The Canadians will meet fourth-place finishers Sweden on Wednesday in the quarterfinal for the chance to guarantee a medal-round contest.

Here are the important details:

Tomkins' net

Canada was in a real difficult spot with its goaltending heading into the knockout phase. Edward Pasquale started the first two games of the tournament and struggled at times before ceding the crease to Tomkins for what was presumably intended to be scheduled rest versus the Chinese. Tomkins was strong in the game, but wasn't really tested. Therefore it was hard to make the determination that he was in fact the best option, as the situations for both Canadian netminders were far from equal.

Making matters worse, the extra game was a rematch with China. The benefit of having to compete once more before the quarterfinals was in some ways nullified, because what more could you learn, at least when it comes to goaltending, from another meeting versus the tournament's worst team?

Either way, head coach Claude Julien had to reveal his hand before the rematch by naming a starter. And despite Tomkins' assignment being far less demanding, he was selected for the game, and more likely the remainder of the tournament. It was nothing more than a hunch — it couldn't be — but Tomkins rewarded his coaches for the decision.

That's because Canada was tested, and extremely so early. China started off the game strong, or at least on equal footing, producing two breakaway chances and a penalty shot in the first five minutes alone as the teams engaged in a wide-open first frame.

Crucially, Tomkins stood tall in those moments, denying each opportunity and preventing Canada from playing from behind until it finally woke up.

It will be Tomkins' net moving forward despite allowing two goals, proving that one can, in fact, learn something in a game versus China.

The Frolunda product will be uniquely positioned in his next start versus Sweden.

A breakout performance

It might not have been the most electrifying five-point performance in the history of hockey at the Olympic Games, but Tambellini had a night to remember.

Tambellini had assists on both Jordan Weal power-play markers in the first period to start his scoring surge, before steering a mishit one-time shot through the legs of Chinese netminder Paris O'Brien before the period was up.

Then, after the Chinese missed with their opportunity on a penalty shot earlier, Tambellini earned one for himself, only converting it, with a quick move to his forehand.

With Canada's third-line tandem of Eric O'Dell and Kent Johnson being the most reliable offensive producers in the tournament, and others in top-six functions like Eric Staal, Mason McTavish, Corban Knight and Josh Ho-Sang unable to really take off, Tambellini has been the closest to a singular dominant force for Julien.

Signs of life

Much focus has been on Canada's top line and captain Staal, and rightfully so. His unit has struggled to produce meaningful offence at even strength and has already underwent a change in personnel with Jack McBain replacing Ho-Sang. As much as the goaltending has been a topic of conversation, questions about Canada having the top-end talent to move the needle in big games might arguably be the more glaring concern.

There is the caveat of China being an inferior opponent, of course, but this was undeniably Staal's best game. A fortunate bounce did lead to his first goal and an ever-elusive even-strength contribution on his sixth shot of the game and he remained at the centre of a power play that is looking more and more dangerous as the tournament continues. But the process in this game was more encouraging than the results.

Quicker and more decisive with the puck on his stick, Staal seems to be knocking off the rust after spending most of the 2021-22 hockey season sitting on the sideline.

Staal finished the game with the goal, an assist and six shots. He's up to 15 shots in the tournament.

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