Canada's Other Nuclear Line Caused The Most Havoc In Olympic Semifinal Win

MILAN, Italy - Call them the other nuclear option.

While Team Canada has terrorized opponents at these Olympics by occasionally loading up a forward line with three of the top four scorers in the NHL, it was a line of so-called "shift disturbers" that caused the most havoc in a come-from-behind semifinal win against Finland on Friday.

Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Tom Wilson will never be confused with the likes of Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini. But trailing 2-1 in the third period, it was trio of fourth liners who tied the game and swung the momentum in a 3-2 win.

"They impact the game in an entirely different way than the three Macs do," said coach Jon Cooper. "But they're both massively effective. I think everybody in the big picture is expecting one line to score all the time and the other one not to. And it's only fitting that the work ethic of that other group was the line that scored the goal for us."

It was before the tournament when Bennett said he first started thinking about what it would be like to play on a line with Marchand, who he is teammates with in Florida, and Washington's Tom Wilson.

"Those are two guys that are the best at disrupting games and swinging energies," said Bennett. "I think we all play similar games, but we all have different attributes."

On the surface, it seemed like an odd request.

After all, Team Canada was flush with so many offensive superstars. And here was Bennett wanting to form a line that has combined for 184 penalty minutes. But Wilson, who has spent most of this tournament on the top line, said he was secretly hoping for the same. Same thing with Marchand.

"It's guys who you hate to play against during the season, but when you together as a line, it can be fun," said Wilson. "I love both their games and the way they play."

"I think we've been excited to try and play together," said Marchand. "We've played against each other a lot over the years and have an idea of how each other plays and the intensity of that. I think we always felt that we would connect well. It's nice not having to worry about those two guys taking my head off."

Eventually, they got their wish.

"Coop walked by Benny and I warming up earlier this morning, just stretching, and said, 'Maybe I'll throw you guys together tonight,' " said Wilson. "There’s so many good players in that room, but it's so much fun to play with those players. They play the right way."

From the moment they stepped over the boards, the trio looked like Canada's version of the Hanson brothers from the movie Slap Shot. 

They kept things simple. They dumped pucks in behind the defense, and they hit anything that moved. But the beauty was in the repetition. It was wave after wave of collisions. Or, what Wilson called playing the "Canadian way."

"With those guys, it's predictable," said Wilson. "We just looked each other in the eye, and we knew what we were going to do — be fast, hard, create chaos, play physical and get pucks to the net, and good things will happen."

Around the midway point in the third period, Finland looked exhausted from all the hits. And that's when Canada tied things up, with Wilson getting the puck back to the point and defenseman Shea Theodore blasting a shot through traffic.

"They just tilt the ice in different ways," said Cooper. "Everything is not always about what you put in the net and how many scoring chances you have. some of it is about intimidation and leading our teams and making them think and making them tire setting up shifts for our next group. And that's what that line was fabulous for."

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