U. S. ousts Slovakia, heads to quarters
Ryan Donato scored two goals, Troy Terry had three assists and the United States men’s hockey team beat Slovakia 5- 1 in the qualification round Monday to advance to face the Czech Republic in the Pyeongchang Olympic quarterfinals.
College kids again led the way for the U. S., which scored more against Slovakia then it did in all three preliminary- round games. James Wisniewski, Mark Arcobello and Garrett Roe also scored for the Americans, who took advantage of a 5- on- 3 power play for hits on Donato and goaltender Ryan Zapolski.
Shaking off a collision with Ladislav Nagy, Zapolski had arguably his best game of the tournament, stopping 21 of the 22 shots he faced. He and the U. S. also beat Slovakia 2- 1 in the preliminary round when Donato scored twice. With his second two- goal game, Donato equaled his father, Ted, who scored four goals for the U. S. at the 1992 Games in Albertville.
Slovakia goaltender Jan Laco allowed five goals on 33 shots and Peter Ceresnak scored a powerplay goal for Slovakia, which became the first team eliminated from the men’s side.
† Jennifer Wakefield scored twice and Shannon Szabados stopped 14 shots to lead Canada to a 5- 0 victory over Russia and a spot in its sixth Olympic gold- medal game. That’s every single one since women’s hockey was added to the Winter Games in 1998. Counting the finale at 9: 10 p. m. Wednesday, five of those will have been against the United States.
ICE DANCING More gold for Virtue, Moir
Canadian stars Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir became the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history, winning gold with a dazzling, dramatic free skate set to the music of “Moulin Rouge.” They scored a personal- best 122.40 points for a record 206.07 total, pushing them past training partners and close friends Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron in a riveting competition.
The French couple broke their own record for a free skate with 123.35 points to their performance of “Moonlight Sonata.” Their total of 205.28 points, also briefly a record, meant that Virtue and Moir needed to top their own best performance by 3.28 points when they took the ice right after them.
American siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani won the bronze medal with a near- flawless free skate that totaled 192.59 points, edging teammates Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue by just under five points.
HALFPIPE Sharpe in command for Canada
Cassie Sharpe put on a show in the women’s freestyle halfpipe final, soaring to a 95.80 during her second run to give Canada its first Olympic medal in the event pioneered by the late Canadian star Sarah Burke. Sharpe’s winning run included a 1,080- degree spin.
France’s Marie Martinod added a second silver to go with the one she captured in Sochi four years ago. American Brita Sigourney edged teammate Annalisa Drew for bronze. Drew scored 90.80 on her final run to slip past Sigourney, only for Sigourney, the next skier down, to put up a 91.80.
Defending champion Maddie Bowman of the U. S. fell on the final hit in each of her three runs.