ores in the manner of du Plessis on Saturday and Quinton de Kock from the first ODI i | Forum

Canada versus Team USA, 8 p. Bart Starr Womens Jersey .m. ET (ESPN)United States: It is painfully simple for Team USA: Win, and its hope of advancing in the World Cup of Hockey lives for another day or two. Lose in any fashion to powerful Canada, and Thursdays preliminary-round game against the Czech Republic will be meaningless, a painful reminder of the failure of this team to come together in any fashion when it mattered most. Derek Stepan of the New York Rangers likened the situation to a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup playoffs.For some of these players the faceoff against their historic rivals to the north may be the last chance internationally to establish a meaningful legacy in the face of a new generation of talented young American players -- several of whom are playing in this tournament for Team North America. Already dogged by skepticism about the makeup of their team, the U.S. players must now confront a Canadian squad that has won the past two Olympic gold medals and is a heavy favorite to win this tournament for a second consecutive time, dating back to 2004. Although the Americans did split two pre-tournament games with Canada, they will have to exponentially ramp up their intensity after a curiously dispassionate 3-0 loss to Team Europe on Saturday, but they must do so without losing their cool, which may be difficult given the stakes.Its a great spot for the Americans to be in, that type of situation, in that type of atmosphere, Team USA head coach John Tortorella insisted. If you cant get motivated to do your best in this type of situation, with the environment thats going to be there Tuesday night, theres something the matter with you. Then weve got the wrong guy. But I dont think weve got the wrong guys.One game into this highly anticipated tournament, the evidence suggests otherwise. But thats the beauty of what awaits this American team: a chance, in the space of 60 minutes on Tuesday night, to rewrite the story of this tournament and maybe their own legacy.?-- Scott BurnsideCanada:?His teams 6-0 opening win over the Czech Republic was pretty darn impressive, but not perfect, said Canada head coach Mike Babcock on Monday. He knows that his players can still pick things up a notch. For sure another level, he said. They had five looks at our net in the first six minutes. Four of them were on specialty teams, and one was on the line change. So weve got to fix that up, for sure. Other than that, I thought we played well; we played with some pace. We didnt have pace early in the exhibition, but were starting to get a little more comfortable.The question is whether Team Canada can manufacture the same kind of desperation level that Team USA will naturally have on Tuesday in a do-or-die situation. The natural rivalry that exists between both teams, on display in two meaningless-yet-feisty pre-tournament games, should ensure Canadas emotional investment. After all, you know that the Canadians would relish that chance to inflict the knockout punch to their rivals, even if they insist thats not their focus.[Were] just playing our game, veteran center Ryan Getzlaf?said. Were trying to build something here. I think we have to make this whole focus about us and not really buy into the whole do-or-die thing for them. Its a matter of us just going out and playing our game and continuing to get better throughout this tournament.Look for Team Canada to try to create turnovers in the U.S. zone with an aggressive forecheck, as tight, five-man units give Team USAs blueliners little room for transition. Its what worked so well against the Czechs in the opener. There were no lineup changes for Canada at practice on Tuesday, which likely means that?Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux will sit out again. The forward lines and defense pairings were also the same, meaning the U.S. has to brace for that Brad Marchand-Sidney Crosby-Patrice Bergeron unit, which brought the Czechs to their knees in the opener. -- Pierre LeBrunFinland versus Sweden, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN)Finland: North America, the team loaded with talented players 23-and-younger, completely dismantled Finland 4-1 in its first World Cup game on Sunday. Meanwhile, Sweden defeated Russia 2-1. Finland needs to muster a major response against the Swedes on Tuesday. Both teams practiced on Monday, but the Finns worked on every aspect of their game in an attempts to figure out why theyre playing so poorly. The biggest issue for Finland to fix is its compete level. It was not there against the kids on Sunday, and now that its biggest rival is on deck, Finland needs to play a 200-foot game. Defensively, the Finns were brutal in front of their own net, so that was a point of emphasis during practice. Finlands defensive-zone coverage needs to improve, especially against a potent Swedish offense.Sweden: For the Swedes, its much of the same. Their depth was key against Russia. Sweden has the ability to roll all four lines, and its defensive core stifled Russias dangerous attack. Sweden was able to exploit Russias weak defense. In order to have success against Finland, it has to follow the same game plan.Line watch:?This game wont be won by one single line or power-play unit. It will come down to goaltending. Both teams were in a bit of a pickle after Mondays practices because of their respective goaltending situations. Swedens Henrik Lundqvist missed Sundays game with the flu. He participated in the teams full practice and showed no ill effects on Monday. While Lundqvist was optimistic after practice about his chances to play against Finland, it was a bit strange when he reiterated numerous times that it would be a coachs decision. Its possible that this could be Lundqvists final tournament for Swedens national team, so if hes healthy I cant imagine a scenario in which he wouldnt play against Finland. At the other end of the ice, its unclear whether Finland will stick with?Pekka Rinne?or switch and go with Tuukka Rask. During practice, it appeared Rask would be the starter. --?Joe McDonald Dexter Williams Jersey . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. Reggie White Youth Jersey . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. http:///...chke-Packers-Jersey/ . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. Australia vice-captain David Warner said his sides 142-run loss in the second ODI at Johannesburg could be traced to a poor start in each innings. Warner said Australia found it hard to recover in the field after South Africa finished the first 10 overs at 66 for 0, setting up a platform for an imposing 361 for 6 which was more than enough for the hosts to defend.We didnt start well, Warner said after the game. We always talk about trying to start well with the bat and the ball in the first 10. We lacked that a bit today and I think our energy and intent was probably lacking. But look when a team puts 360 on the board, its always going to be a tough chase. You have to start positive and try not to lose too many wickets in the first 10. Its unfortunate today but weve got another chance to come back and show up again in Durban.Australias debutant new-ball combo of Chris Tremain and Joe Mennie took the brunt of the punishment from Rilee Rossouw and Faf du Plessis, who produced his sixth ODI ton. Tremain and Mennie took a combined 1 for 160 in 20 overs, with Mennies 0 for 82 the worst return for an Australian bowler on ODI debut.However, Warner noted that the Johannesburg pitch is never an easy place for bowlers, noting Mennie didnt have it as bad as Mick Lewis, who conceded figures of 0 for 113 in the famous 438 chase by South Africa on the same ground 10 years earlier. He also said Mitchell Starcs absence was not an excuse for a lackluster bowling performance and that the young attack will hopefully learn from the experience.Youve got to play the cards that youre dealt and at the moment weve got two young guys making their debut. We do have a young attack but theyve done everything they can to be here and be in this position to play for the country. Dave Robinson Youth Jersey. Its going to be a learning experience for them especially today.They have to go back and reflect on what they can do better, especially in the first 10. With Starcy and them out, it is what it is. We have to deal with it and we can only control what we can at the moment and thats with the guys that we have.As for Australias reply, Warner said the team needed to find a better balance between attacking in the first 10 overs and remaining patient enough to wait for scoring opportunities that open up over the course of the innings. While South Africa ended their Powerplay blemish free, Australia were 54 for 2 after 10 and lost George Bailey one over later, setting them back to a position they could not dig out of.Warner singled himself out for poor shot selection despite making Australias second-best score in the match and said Australia needed to produce bigger scores in the manner of du Plessis on Saturday and Quinton de Kock from the first ODI if they want to make a comeback in the series.We have to get hungry and we have to be hungry, Warner said. We are that on our day. Obviously it hasnt been our day the last couple of games but we have to keep having that positive mindset and go big. Weve seen the wickets. Theyre very very good wickets and if you get in... today I played probably a poor shot. Ive had a couple of soft dismissals. A few of the guys got caught down the leg side. ' ' '