Canada Responds to Challenge

Pushed to the brink of losing its last claim to hockey supremacy, Canada on Saturday responded with a gritty performance that exemplified its most valuable gift to the hockey world.

Calgary Flame winger Theoren Fleury sent Canada to the finals of the World Cup of Hockey when his long-range shot from the left side skipped past Swedish goaltender Tommy Salo with 12.5 seconds left in the second overtime, propelling Canada to a 3-2 semifinal victory before a crowd of 17,227 at the CoreStates Center.

“They didn’t give an inch,” said Fleury, who was set up on a short pass by Detroit Red Wing defenseman Paul Coffey.

Thanks to Fleury and Curtis Joseph’s 41 saves, Canada (4-1) will face the winner of today’s semifinal between the United States and Russia in Ottawa. The United States defeated Russia, 5-2, Monday in a first-round game and defeated Canada in its opener, 5-3. The best-of-three World Cup finals begins Tuesday at Philadelphia.

“It was really a close game. I don’t know how many inches we were from winning it,” Swedish forward Peter Forsberg said. “This was a typical Canadian game, tip-ins and physical play. They’re really good at that.”

Canada held a 2-0 lead after two periods, on goals by Eric Lindros and Scott Niedermayer.