Sustained effort carries US
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — There wasn’t anything too fancy or technical about what the U.S. men’s hockey team needed to do Friday afternoon.
After a disappointing overtime loss to start the 2018 Winter Olympics, the Americans knew they had to give a full 60 minutes of effort against Slovakia.
“We just continued to keep our foot on the gas,” forward Jordan Greenway said. “We didn’t let up in the third period.”
That meant chasing down loose pucks and working their way to the front of the net. It meant playing defense and killing a crucial penalty.
Most importantly, the U.S. got a winner from Ryan Donato — his second goal of the game — to finish with a 2-1 victory at Gangneung Hockey Centre.
It might not have been a do-or-die situation, but Friday was definitely a crucial moment after what happened earlier in the week. In the opener against Slovenia, the U.S. built a two-goal lead but seemed to lose energy at the end. Maybe nerves played a role as Slovenia fought back to win 3-2 in extra time.
Minnesota Wild prospect Kirill Kaprizov scored a hat trick as the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” routed Slovenia on Friday. For the Russians, it was a rebound from a surprising 3-2 loss to Slovakia in their opener. The Russians will next play the U.S. on Saturday in a game likely to determine who finishes atop the Group B standings.
“The experience we gained from losing that lead in Game 1 was, we had to play differently tonight,” coach Tony Granato said. “We had to stay on the attack a little more.”
Sergei Mozyakin got the Russians started with a laser shot off Pavel Datysuk’s pass at 18:23 of the first period, and it took just 22 seconds for Ilya Kovalchuk to make it 2-0. The Russians scored four times in 12 minutes during the second period on goals by Alexander Barabanov, Ilya Kablukov, Kaprizov and Kovalchuk. Former Detroit Red Wings forward Jan Mursak — who scored twice against the U.S. — scored off a pass from Miha Verlic in the second period, but Kaprizov scored twice in the third as the Russians pulled away. Slovenia’s Ziga Pance made it 8-2 late. Viktor Stalberg scored on a near-breakaway early in the first period to lead Sweden past Germany on Friday night in a preliminary round game. Patrik Zackrisson found a streaking Stalberg with a clearing pass and the 32-year-old veteran of eight NHL seasons rocketed the puck over the stick of German goalie Timo Pielmeier just 2 minutes into the game. Sweden (2-0) will face Finland (2-0) in a Group C showdown on Sunday. Germany will play Norway in a matchup of two teams looking for their first win of the tournament.