China – Page 3 – CanucksBanter

Canada defeated China for the second time in 48 hours, following a 5-0 win Sunday night with a 7-2 win tonight. The result puts Canada in the quarter-finals where they will play Sweden tomorrow. The loss eliminates the Chinese from men’s hockey at the Olympics.

Third generation Team Canada forward Adam Tambellini was the star of the show for the winners, scoring twice and adding two assists. Goalie Matt Tomkins was rock solid and almost certainly has earned the start against Tre Kronor.

Despite the win Canada looked disorganized at times, no more so than in the first few minutes of the game. Goalie Matt Tomkins was sensational, keeping Canada in the game on several occasions. An early breakdown allowed Taile Wang (Tyler Wong) to break in on the goalie, but Tomkins made a great save. Soon after, it was Jaing Fu (Spencer Foo) who had a clear chance, and this resulted in a delayed penalty shot. The Chinese had possession for nearly 90 seconds before Canada touched the puck, and Fu tried to beat Tomkins five-hole with the freebie but was stopped again.

Three great saves finally ignited Canada, which started to penetrate the Chinese end more effectively. But at the other end it was Jieruimi Shimisi (Jeremy Smith) who matched Tomkins, stoning Mat Robinson from in close and then captain Eric Staal. Canada finally got the opening goal at 6:57 on the power play. A series of wild shots and bouncing pucks finished when Jordan Weal smacked a loose puck in to make it 1-0.

Three minutes later, Canada doubled its lead on a two-man advantage. Weal finished the play again, with a bit of luck. Staal fired a cross-crease pass to Weal, and his quick shot bounced off defender Jie Liu (Jason Fram) and in. Canada continued with a one-man advantage, but the best scoring chance was had by China on yet another giveaway. The Chinese went in on a two-on-one but An Jian (Cory Kane) was stoned by Tomkins.

China finally scored a well-deserved goal at 15:32 off a giveaway by Owen Power deep in his end. Trying to corral a loose puck with one hand on his stick, he was checked by Ruike Wei (Ethan Werek), who got the puck to Jian. Jian made a quick move and roofed a backhand for the goal. Soon after, on another power play, Jiang Fu had a glorious chance to tie the game, but Tomkins was that little bit better with his blocker.

In the dying seconds of the period Smith injured his knee and was forced to leave the game. Yongli Ouban (Paris O’Brien) was forced to start the second and was challenged almost immediately, and Canada made it a 3-1 game at 6:36 with another power-play score. This was as lucky a goal as you can get. Tambellini was set up for the one-timer, but he fanned on the shot, which was then tipped by Jieke Kailiaosi (Jake Chelios) and into his own goal.

Two minutes later, Tambellini burst through the middle and drew another penalty shot, and he scored with his bonus chance with a quick snap shot to the far side.

Canada made it 5-1 at 12:05. Eric O’Dell won the faceoff in the China end and went to the net where he tipped in Jason Demers’s point shot. Canada was coasting along, playing better and controlling play, but the rhythm of the game changed again late when Morgan Ellis took a five-minute elbowing major.

Ellis was playing his first game, replacing Alex Grant on the blue line, and the penalty cost his team during a subsequent five-on-three. Jian got his second of the game when he batted in a rebound out of the air after Tomkins made the initial save. It was the first goal the Canadians have surrendered all tournament while short-handed. The goal came at 19:00 and China still had two minutes left on the major to start the third.

Canada played a solid period of defence in the final 20 minutes, not allowing odd-man rushes or good scoring chances and playing with greater discipline. Staal scored his first goal of the Olympics at 15:55 when his long shot bounced off the leg of Aoxibofu Dannisi and in.

The resut was a win and the final place in the quarter-finals where they will have another game with simple implications–win and play in the semi-finals, or go home.

Le Mi (Hannah Miller) scored the lone goal in the shootout to lift China to a hard-fought 2-1 upset over Japan in Group B action on Sunday at the Wukesong Sports Centre.

”I’m so happy for my teammates that we could win this game,” said a tearful Baiwei Yu, the Chinese captain. “I’m so proud to be part of Team China.”

Japan, despite the loss, goes through to the 2022 Olympic quarter-finals with the single point.

China’s playoff hopes are surging too. China secured two or more points for the second straight game and sits third in Group B with five points. The Chinese got their first Olympic home-ice win ever with a 3-1 victory over Denmark, which, like Sweden, remains pointless through two games.

In the first period, the Japanese withstood a strong Chinese push. Coach Yuji Iizuka’s players showed their characteristic speed and discipline in the second and third, but China refused to give in. This was a strong, gritty outing for the host nation, which sits 20th in the IIHF Women’ s World Ranking, while Japan is sixth.

In regulation time, Baozhen Hu (Maddie Woo) scored her first Olympic goal for China.

For Japan, assistant captain Akane Hosoyamada added her first Olympic goal. The Japanese are aiming to improve on their previous best Olympic finish (sixth in 1998 and 2018).

“It was a high-speed, high-skilled game, back and forth,” said Hosoyamada. “We had some chances, they had some chances, and just one more went in for them.”

China wraps up its Group B slate with an important game against Sweden on Monday. Japan goes up versus the unbeaten Czechs on Tuesday.

“It will really be a battle, the toughest battle,” said Iizuka. “We expect our players to come out hard and clinch first place.”

This was a duel between two top goalies, and China’s Jiaying Zhou got the better of Fujimoto, a three-time Olympian. Japan outshot China 33-30.

“Winning today’s game just means we can play more games, and I just want to be ready for tomorrow’s game [against Sweden],” said Zhou, who stopped all five Japanese shootout attempts she faced. “We’re just trying to think about tomorrow’s game already.”

Versus Japan, China came out with an honest, determined effort, putting plenty of pucks on Fujimoto and not making it easy for the Japanese to exit their zone. The Japanese netminder had to be alert when leading Chinese scorer Qiqi Lin (Leah Lum) tipped a drive by top blueliner Yuting Wang (Jessica Wong) on net near the eight-minute mark.

“We knew they were going to come out hard,” Hosoyamada said. “They’re definitely a good team and they’ve got some skilled players.”

About a minute later, an unfortunate knee-on-knee collision between Chinese assistant captain Mengying Zhang and linemate Beika Li (Rebekah Kolstad) in the Japanese zone left Zhang crumpled on the ice. A stretcher was summoned and Zhang was carried off.

The Chinese responded to their teammate’s injury by redoubling their efforts, but Beika Li’s woes continued. She was in the box for an illegal hit when Hosoyamada opened the scoring on the power play at 18:02, unleashing a laser wrister that beat Jiaying Zhou high to the stick side, as captain Chiho Osawa provided the screen.

This was the first power play goal the Chinese have conceded at these Olympics, coming on their seventh disadvantage. On the very same sequence, Le Mi took another illegal-hit minor, and Japan went straight back to the woman advantage, although this time it was fruitless.

The Chinese, loaded with veterans from the KRS Vanke Rays of the Russian Women’s Hockey League, kept throwing their weight around excessively, as Ni Lin (Rachel Llanes) got penalized for the same infraction in the second period.

Both teams’ battle level remained high as the scoreless middle frame wore on, with leaders like Japan’s Chiho Osawa and China’s Yuting Wang fearlessly blocking shots. The sense of desperation added to the drama.

Just 1:06 into the third period, China knotted the score on a broken play. Beika Li finally got rewarded when her shot deflected off Japanese blueliner Shiori Koike and a kneeling Fujimoto bobbled the puck, enabling Baozhen Hu to pop into it a half-empty net. The Wukesong Sports Centre erupted with joy.

A few minutes later, China narrowly failed to take the lead as a dangerous-looking 3-on-1 rush came to naught. With under 10 minutes left, the Chinese hemmed Japan in its own end for stretches. Still, the Japanese came close to ending it in regulation when Chiho Osawa and Haruna Yoneyama buzzed the Chinese net with just over a minute left.

“I think we just had bad luck there,” Hosoyamada said. “The bounces didn’t go our way. I think we’ve gotta just keep playing our game moving forward and hope that luck comes our way.”

End-to-end action ensued during overtime with great chances on both sides. For China, Le Mi’s net drive carried the puck over the line. She fell into Fujimoto and the naturalized forward’s leg then bumped it in. But after a video review, the officials said no goal. Meanwhile, Jiaying Zhou stood tall when Japan’s Shiori Koike got a clearcut breakaway with a minute left.

“I know there was probably a goal set for the team [before the tournament], but for myself, I wasn’t thinking about that,” said Zhou. “I just wanted to do my best.”

The Chinese women are faring better so far than the unified Korean team did in PyeongChang. In 2018, the Koreans were defeated 8-0 by Switzerland, 8-0 by Sweden, and 4-1 by Japan in their first three games.

In their lone previous Olympic meeting, China beat host Japan 6-1 in 11 February 1998 in Nagano. That year, China hit its senior IIHF peak with fourth place. These Asian rivals have split their four Women’s Worlds meetings, with China winning in 2000 (3-0) and 2004 (5-2) and Japan in 2008 (3-1) and 2009 (2-1).