Three long weeks.

Is that the amount of time it takes before the mind begins to wander?

Canada beat Team Europe 3-1 in Game 1 of the World Cup of Hockey's best-of-three final Tuesday at Air Canada Centre, moving to within a win of claiming its third straight triumph in best-on-best international competition.

But while the end result was just the same - a 15th consecutive victory in the Olympics or World Cup for the hockey juggernaut - this wasn't the bulletproof performance we have become accustomed to seeing.

This much, each player and coach would admit.

"We needed more guys on deck than we had tonight."

Those were coach Mike Babcock's simplistic terms, and though they certainly ring true, his words don't offer an explanation for the short strides, stick checks, inaccurate passes, and winding circles in lieu of full stops that we saw through large stretches of the game.

Canada suffered from overall disjointedness, and its effort was only neutralized by the resolute sharpness of Carey Price, who made 32 stops and held his team in long enough for Sidney Crosby's line to burst through, and be the difference in a second straight game.

So what changed? Did Ralph Krueger make the adjustments that have eluded nations over the last several tournaments? Or did three weeks on the road, in different rinks and in hotels, and as distractions mount at home with NHL training camps well underway, cause the Canadians to lose their focus?

"I don't think anyone's really concerned about what's going on back home, and with our own teams," Brad Marchand told theScore. "We're all concerned about being here right now."

Perhaps asking the player who successfully negotiated a $49-million contract, and devoted the next eight years of his life to an organization while emerging as a star for Hockey Canada, wasn't the right person to ask about distraction.

Alex Pietrangelo, who last month was named captain of the St. Louis Blues, admitted that he's had to switch gears throughout, but like his teammate, it hasn't come at the expense of his preparation.

"I'd be lying if I said that we weren't thinking about what we have to do in the coming week, but we know what we have to do on game days," he said.

"We are focused here when we are at the rink. Our sole focus has been on this tournament. I've been pretty impressed with the focus the guys have had throughout."

Of course, the players were never going to willingly admit their performances were being affected by matters unrelated to the task at hand. Because despite the mismatched final, and the momentum it has zapped from this World Cup, this remains a major international tournament, and it's Canada's responsibility to deliver.

But on Thursday, if they infiltrate the seal-tight neutral zone Pietrangelo said frustrated the Canadian attack, clean up their execution, and end up blowing the doors off Team Europe in Game 2, and in turn can return home and sort out their lives before embarking on the grueling season ahead - well, we just might get our answer.

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