Yesterday was a lot more competitive than Tuesday, as none of the games particularly were blowouts. Some good hockey, and upon looking at the standings, with goals for being the first tie breaker after points, both Latvia and Belrus, despite losing, hold the final two spots in the medal round. That will change barring a big surprise, as both Germany and Slovakia should respond from losses yesterday. Today, the hockey will be return to the blowout style we saw Tuesday as Pool A resumes play with USA Vs. Norway at 1 and Canada Vs. Switzerland at 5:30. Tonight, two good teams go at it with Russia playing the Slovaks, fresh from a loss to their bitter rival, the Czech Republic. But let's start with a recap of the action from yesterday:
FINLAND 5, BELARUS 1
- Goaltender Vitali Koval kept Belarus in this game as long as he possibly could have. Mid-way through the second period, the score was 2-1 and Belarus was looking to seize momentum in the game. Niclas Hagman, however, scored for Finland shortly after, and the Finns roll. Selanne and Koivu, of course, played good games for this Finnish squad. For Belarus, it doesn't get any easier with Sweden next. On the bright side, at least they get the two best teams in the pool out of the way first right?
SWEDEN 2, GERMANY 0
- I thought Sweden would come out of the gates blazing to start pool play, but they stalled. Henrik Lundqvist finished with 21 saves and got some offense. Tough game for Peter Forsberg. All signs point to this being his final Olympics, and put any hopes he had of returning to the NHL to bed. Germany knew they probably weren't going to win, but they have to take care of business against Finland, and especially Belarus if they want to make the medal rounds.
CZECH REPUBLIC 3, SLOVAKIA 1
- Well, it certainly looks like Jaromir Jagr can still get it done. He single-handedly won this game for the Czechs in the second period with two goals 2:02 apart, scoring at a time when it looked like the Slovaks were beginning to get an edge. Frustrating game for Slovakia, and their game tonight against Russia won't be fun. Tough enough to do a back to back in the Olympics, but to do it against the Czechs and then the Russians is a tall order for anyone. Simply need to get better goaltending from Jaroslav Halak, or they might go to a fresh Petr Budaj, who has spent most of this season in the NHL on the bench behind Craig Anderson in Colorado.
TONIGHT:
1:00- USA VS. NORWAY
- This should be the Americans' easiest game in the entire Olympic tournament. That said, they can't afford to overlook Norway and have this game be close. If they take care of business, which they should, this game will be 5-0 easily, maybe worse. Norway was battered in their opening loss to the Canadians on tuesday, and don't expect things to get any easier for them. Well, they also get the top two teams in their pool out of the way first, but even a win against the Swiss on Saturday will not be enough to get them into the top 8.
5:30- CANADA VS. SWITZERLAND
- Canada needs to continue its offensive domination in this game, and it cannot wait until the end of the second period against the Swiss like they did against Norway to heat up. This Swiss team beat Canada in Torino in 2006 in what still is that country's biggest hockey win. Canada is much better than they were in Torino, however. I still think Canada will win even if this game becomes a defensive struggle, because of all the clutch talent they have on the bench when they need a goal (led by Sidney Crosby, of course). Probably 5-1.
10:00- RUSSIA VS. SLOVAKIA
- Slovakia needs to have instant amnesia in regard to their game last night if they want to have any hope to beat the Russians. The Russians, on the other hand, want more of the same from their last game, a 8-2 beating of Latvia. Should be plenty physical, and the scoring no doubt is there. Russia could lose this game, it is quite possible that the Slovaks have enough to beat them. Not necessarily probable, though. 4-2 Russia.
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