Today at 12:00 p.m. ET, Canada and Norway faceoff in men's ice hockey live from the Bolshoy Ice Dome as part of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi in Group B action. The game can be live streamed here.
Canada looks to get off to a great start in defense of its 2010 gold medal win at the Vancouver Games while Norway looks to make a statement by overcoming the heavily favored Canadiens.
While Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo was in net when Canada won the gold in 2010, he'll make way for Carey Price to start today's game. Price has won three straight starts for the Montreal Canadiens leading into the NHL's Olympic break and has allowed just six goals in his last seven games while beating Luongo and the Canucks head-to-head in that stretch.
Price is 26-17-5 with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage while Luongo is 19-16-6 with a 2.38 GAA and a .917 save percentage.
While Canada is a heavy favorite to win, especially with the NHL's leading scorer Sidney Crosby (28-50-78) of the Pittsburgh Penguins on the team, first-time Olympian and New York Islanders captain John Tavares (24-42-66) isn't ready to take his opponents lightly.
"Every game's a tough game," Tavares told the IIHF website. "I remember World Championships for me in Slovakia. We beat Norway 3-2. It was a very close, tight game. They're a team that competes hard and they have a tremendous skill set. They made a lot of plays that game. Obviously some of these countries that may not be as well-known have played together for a long time. That makes a big difference and all those teams are going to be ready to play."
Norway will try to keep pace with the high-powered Canadians and while the team has some players who have spent stints in the NHL, the only current NHL player on the roster is Mats Zuccarello of the New York Rangers.
"We have to try to play our game," Zuccarello told the IIHF website. "I think we can play our max and Canada, with their skill set and the players they have, it's going to be tough for us. But you never know. All we can do is go out and give 100 percent and try to play a perfect game. And hopefully Canada's a little jet-lagged."
Zuccarello is enjoying a breakout season with the Rangers, where he has 15 goals and 28 assists for 43 points.
Canada looks to start its gold medal defense with a strong effort while Norway hopes to make a statement when these teams take the ice in Sochi to kick off their Winter Olympic journeys.
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