Slow start, but Canada win

ByEurosport

Published 15/02/2006 at 13:42 GMT

After a slow start that saw the reigning Olympic champions lead 1-0 after one period, Canada pulled away to beat Italy 7-2 in their opening Group A encounter. Giulio Scandella evened the game at 1-1 early in the second before the Canadians struck three ti

Maybe it was jet lag.

While the whole world expected a scoreline similar to the one which saw Canada's women last weekend trounce Italy 16-0, the hosts kept pace with Joe Sakic's lot through one period.

When Toronto-born Jason Cirone leveled the score at 1-1 on the power play 43 seconds into the second period, Turin's near-capacity crowd at the Palasport Olimpico erupted.

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The celebration would be short-lived as Canada scored three in the next five minutes, with the line led by captain Joe Sakic turning in a particularly productive day as Jarome Ingila scoring his second of the game six minutes into the second.

Italy's Canadian coach Mickey Goulet then called time to enable his side - made up almost exclusively of local-based players - to regroup.

That worked for a while, but the Canadians would score another pair in a five-goal second period.

HEADS HIGH

"We definitely thought we had a chance," said Italian defenseman Carter Trevisani. "When it was 1-1 I thought maybe we could hold them off. We knew we couldn't let them get up on us, if they get two or three goals ahead there's no coming back."

"We had a lot of respect for them, we knew they would come out fired up," said Iginla. "We have some of the best defensemen in the world and they really made it tough on them."

When the final buzzer sounded, applause and congratulations were in order for Italian goaltender Jason Muzzatti who faced 50 shots to Martin Brodeur's 20.

ICE HOCKEY 2006 Torino 2006 Italy-Canada Brodeur Muzzatti

Image credit: Reuters

Brodeur, whose father played at the Cortina Olympics 50 years ago, turned in a solid opening game before Thursday's encounter with Germany and crucial weekend ties against Finland and the Czech Republic.

Italy men's roster

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