World Cup of Hockey: Canada eyes improvement in Game 2 of final

Members of Team Canada would say Game 1 of the World Cup of Hockey final was their weakest of the tournament, leading one to believe there is plenty of firepower left in a squad that downed Team Europe 3-1 on Tuesday.

The collection of European players from eight countries would say they brought their best effort but it still wasn't enough. So perhaps it's time to declare the Canadians repeat champions, yes?

Not so fast.

The World Cup championship is now a best-of-three series, allowing Europe another chance to build on and finish what it started Tuesday in tonight's Game 2 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto (CBC, CBCSports.ca, CBC Sports app, 7:30 p.m. ET).

Europe had the edge in the first period, partly due to Canadian penalties, odd-man rushes allowed and turnovers.

The Europeans also outshot Canada 13-9, had the best scoring chance early on — a Tomas Tatar shot turned away by goalie Carey Price — while the Canadians weren't sharp with the puck at times.

"When you look at our game, there was a lot of turnovers, a lot of missed checks," Canadian forward Corey Perry told reporters Wednesday. "That's kind of uncharacteristic of how we play and how we have been playing."

Maybe Tuesday's performance was simply a hiccup for a Canadian outfit that has outscored the opposition 22-7 in five games, trailed for only two minutes and 41 seconds and won its past 15 best-on-best games, dating back to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Captain Sidney Crosby tops all players at the World Cup with nine points and has combined with linemates Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand for 22 points in five games.

Expect the Jonathan Toews-Logan Couture-Perry unit to remain intact after it limited the dangerous Anze Kopitar to two shots. The Los Angeles Kings star played a game-high 22:45 on Tuesday and won 17 of 32 faceoffs.

But Tatar, who plays left wing for Detroit during the NHL season, has been Europe's most productive goal-scorer in Toronto. The Slovakian forward had Europe's lone marker Tuesday and scored twice, including the game-winner, in a 3-2 overtime victory over Sweden in the semifinals.

Thomas Vanek, Nino Niederreiter and Kopitar are still looking for their first goals of the tourney, while netminder Jaroslav Halak is capable of stealing a game. He made 35 saves in Game 1 and boasts a .941 percentage.

At the other end, Price is 4-0-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average and .954 save percentage at this year's World Cup. The Montreal Canadiens goaltender is also unbeaten in his past 15 appearances with the national team, posting a 1.05 GAA and .961 save percentage in those starts.

Team Europe may or may not be aware of those statistics.

"We believe," defenceman Dennis Seidenberg said. "We hung in there [in Game 1] and had some good chances. We do think we are a great team, so there is no reason not to believe."