Team Canada's Sidney Crosby (87) celebrates his goal against Team Russia with teammate Shea Weber (6) and Steven Stamkos (91) during first period World Cup of Hockey semifinal action in Toronto on Saturday, September 24, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

TORONTO - There's a feeling of invincibility right now for those on Team Canada.

"With this team I'm very, very rarely nervous," said defenceman Drew Doughty. "Every single time I put on this jersey I have confidence that we're going to win the game."

It took 41 minutes and 16 seconds for any doubt of such a result to be removed in a semifinal matchup with Russia on Saturday night. Brad Marchand whipped the go-ahead goal past Sergei Bobrovsky at the early stage of the third period, with Canada adding two more goals in a decisive 5-3 win.

Dominant in the preliminary round, the Canadians were far and away the better team again on Saturday and remain the tournament's heavy favourites entering a best-of-three finals matchup against either Sweden or Europe. Their depth of talent has overwhelmed every opponent, including the Russians on Saturday.

Canada outshot their long-time international rival 47-34, sustaining control of the puck for long, heavy stints in the offensive zone. Only Bobrovsky kept it close for the first two periods. The Russian goaltender was spectacular over the first two periods, turning down quality chance after quality chance.

"He played phenomenal tonight, made a lot of really big saves and really kept them in it," Marchand said.

Sidney Crosby scored early in the opening frame, but for a good while thereafter it was as though as nothing would beat Bobrovsky. He stopped 16-of-17 shots in the first, his brilliance continuing with 15 more saves in a second period controlled by the Canadians.

The Russians didn't get their first shot of the period until nearly nine minutes had ticked by, with Nikita Kucherov eventually firing one past the blocker of Carey Price to even the score at 1-1.

Shots at that point were 24-8 in favour of Canada.

Theatrics from the Russian goaltender continued as the home side kept attacking, each scoring attempt snuffed out. Then, with just under four minutes left in the period, Russia went ahead as Evgeny Kuznetsov batted a shot past Price. He flapped his arms in the air to celebrate the Russian lead and a rare Canadian deficit.

Canada faced no real resistance in rolling through the preliminary round. They trailed once in three games for a mere 89 seconds, outscoring foes 14-3.

The tension was short-lived. Marchand pulled his team back to even just 1:12 after the Kuznetsov marker. Again it was Crosby keying the action. He grabbed a loose a puck in the right face-off circle and slung a pass through skates and sticks to Marchand cross-ice, his shot beating Bobrovsky.

An Air Canada Centre crowd filled primarily by fans in red and white erupted.

"It was big just because we felt like we were controlling the play and doing a lot of good things and we were down 2-1," said Crosby, who finished the game with three points and leads the tournament with seven.

Between periods head coach Mike Babcock stressed that more of the same was required. Canada, he noted, was holding the puck constantly, wearing down the Russian defence and peppering Bobrovsky with shots. It was only a matter of time, he told his team.

"I just said 'steady on the rudder, we're doing things right,'" Babcock recalled afterward.

It took 76 seconds for the onslaught to begin in the third.

Taking a drop pass from Crosby, his fellow Nova Scotia native, Marchand slipped a weak shot under the glove of Bobrovsky to give Canada a 3-2 lead. Given the difficulty of some of his earlier stops it was a soft goal to give up and the first of three he would allow in a 10-minute span.

Ultimately, Canada's overwhelming pressure became too much for the Russians and Bobrovsky to keep at bay. John Tavares became the 10th Canadian with at least a goal at the World Cup, potting the fifth marker in victory.

Tavares and linemates, Ryan Getzlaf and Steven Stamkos, were punishing over the first two periods, but among those thrwarted by Bobrovsky.

"I thought our approach was to just keep going at him, put even more pressure and I thought we did that," said Patrice Bergeron, who had two assists as the third member on a line with Crosby and Marchand.

Though Kucherov managed to find the back of the net, Alex Ovechkin was held off the scoreboard, managing just a single shot in nearly 21 minutes. Especially crucial to slowing the Russian captain was a complete snubbing of the Russian power play, which went 0 for 3 against Canada and 0 for 11 in the tournament.

Whether the Swedes or Europeans, Canada will again have the edge. Neither poses much of a threat to beat the Canadians twice in a best-of-three final.

It's been more than six years since any team topped Canada even once in a best-on-best format, the Americans doing so in the preliminary round of the 2010 Olympics.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2016