VANCOUVER — Relax, Canada. Your national anxiety has been soothed — at least for a day.
Forced to compete in a playoff qualifier after a disappointing first-round performance that put the entire country on edge, Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey team redeemed itself Tuesday and advanced to the playoff quarterfinals with an 8-2 rout of Germany at Canada Hockey Place, led by Jarome Iginla’s two-goal performance.
Now for the proverbial bad news:
Canada’s opponent Wednesday will be the Alexander Ovechkin-led Russians, who earned a bye into the quarterfinals and are seeded third in the tournament.
The matchup between Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, two of the best young players in the world, was widely anticipated but wasn’t expected until the gold-medal game.
However, those plans took a detour in the preliminary round after Canada needed a shootout to beat Switzerland and lost to the U.S. As the No. 6 seed, Canada had to play on Tuesday and will have to win four games in six days to win the gold.
Crosby, stopped on a penalty shot in the second period, scored in the third on a redirection in the slot off a perfect pass from Eric Staal to give Canada a 5-1 lead.
Canada captain Scott Niedermayer, whose struggles with the Ducks this season had carried over to the Olympics, scored an unassisted goal that was reminiscent of his younger days. He carried the puck out of his own zone, dodged a defender, and shot the puck off goaltender Thomas’ Greiss stick and through the goalie’s legs at 11:22 of the third period for Canada’s seventh goal.
Rick Nash finished the scoring for Canada at 16:28, prompting the crowd to chant “We want Russia.”
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But will they be chanting Wednesday night, too?
A three-goal outburst in the second period enabled Canada to distance itself from Germany, which has a handful of players in the NHL but lacks the depth to compete on an equal footing with elite teams.
Canada coach Mike Babcock made several changes to his lineup Tuesday, including replacing goaltender Martin Brodeur with Roberto Luongo. Playing in the arena he calls home with the Canucks, Luongo was serenaded with chants of “Lou” on the rare occasions he had to make a save.
Germany scored at 16:34 of the second period, when Marcel Goc of the Predators tried a wraparound and the puck caromed in off Luong’s left leg, and when Manuel Klinge finished off a passing play with 1:02 left in the third.
Canada dominated play in the first period and dominated the shots, too, taking 14 to only four by Germany. But all that pressure led to only one goal, by Thornton, at 10:13.
Defenseman Duncan Keith of the Hawks took a shot from the point that skidded behind the net, where Dany Heatley won possession. He passed it out to Thornton, his San Jose teammate, who was to the left of Greiss — another of the eight Sharks playing in this tournament. Thornton won this confrontation, scoring his first goal of the Olympics.
Canada extended its lead to 2-0 at 2:32 of the second period on a play that was reviewed. Shea Weber’s blast from the blue line was so hard and fast that it went through the net, and the goal was awarded only after a video replay provided proof that it had gone into the net.
Iginla scored at 3:41 to make it 3-0, during a power play. A shot from the blue line bounced off Staal and stayed in the slot — but not for long with Iginla around.
Goc broke up Canada’s goal parade but that was only a brief interruption. Crosby, at 1:10, and Mike Richards, lunging to one knee at 6:41, made it 6-1.
The celebration was on and all seemed forgiven by the fervent fans here.