The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Russians cruise bt U.S. 4-0
Kovalchuk scores 2 to send Americans to qualifying game.
GANGNEUNG, SOUTHKOREA — The blistering pace on the ice and the atmosphere in the arena was reminiscent of the epic showdown between the United States and Russia in Sochi four years ago.
That’s where the similarities end.
Whenthe teams met again at the Olympics on Saturday night without NHL players, former NHL player Ilya Kovalchuk and the Russians put on a clinic — outplaying, outhitting and outclassing the U.S. in a 4-0 shutout.
The U.S. must now play in the qualification round Tuesday, while Russians fifinished fifirst in their group and moved on directly to the quarter fifinals, hoping their dominance puts T.J. Oshie’s shootout performance in 2014 further in the rearview mirror.
“After the last game in Sochi, I think you guys are still showing the highlights of Oshie scoring those shootouts, right?” Kovalchuk said. “So hopefully you’re gonna change that now.”
Russians Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk and Slava Voynov,
and U. S. coach Tony Granato are the only people back from that game, which had higher stakes because of the NHL talent.
There’s still plenty at stake this time with the U.S. looking to win its fifirst Olympic gold medal since the “Miracle On Ice” in 1980.
Granato doubled down after the loss on his pre-tournament comment that the U.S. doesn’t “need a miracle” to win.
What it might need is better goaltending after Ryan Zapolski allowed four goals on 26 shots, including Kovalchuk’s backbreaking goals less than 33 seconds apart at the end of the secondperiod and start of the third.
Zapolski also allowed two
goals to Nikolai Prokhorokin, a 2012 Los Angeles Kings draft pick. But it was the costly Kovalchuk goal with two-tenths of a second left in the second period that he wants back.
“It was a knuckle-puck and from a pretty long way away,” said Zapolski, whom Granato confifirmed would remain the U.S. starter moving forward.
“The two other goals were really good shots. Good players are able toscore goals like that, and those are some of their better players so they found a way to score.”
This night lacked the tense political subtext of the Cold War from their 1980 meeting and the pomp and circumstance of Russian Presi- dent Vladimir Putin attending and the pressure on the home teamin Sochi in 2014, but it had the same kind of in-arena atmosphere.
U.S. and Russian fans fifilled Gangneung Hockey Centre and went back and forth with “U-S-A” and the “ROSSI-YA” chants that made up the background noise at the Olympics four years ago.
Entering the game, the Russians looked as if they had better players than the U.S., and that showed in each team’s final preliminary-round game. The U.S. college players who shined in the fifirst two games engaged in the physical play against the Russians but couldn’t make animpact onthe score sheet.
“They’ve got a really good group over there, but I’m really confifident in our squad,” forward Jordan Greenway said. “There’s things we’ve got to work on, mistakes we’ve got to learn from in this game. I’m sure we’ll see them again later in the tournament and I think the outcome will be a lot different.”
The U.S. rarely generated quality scoring chances against Russian goalie Vasily Koshechkin, whostopped 29 shots for his fifirst shutout of the tournament.
“Our goalie make some great saves,” Kovalchuk said.