All of yesterday's games were entertaining, and two of them turned out to be shocking. Canada now needs to beat the United States on Sunday if it wants a bye into the quarterfinals after taking Switzerland to a shootout. It looks like the United States has a legitimate chance to win on Sunday where hope may not have been as bright before. Russia now must do the same against the Czechs on Sunday to avoid playing in the opening round of the medal rounds. Slovakia shocked many yesterday with a huge upset of the Russians, and their chances for that bye are, for now, intact. The only team they have yet to play is Latvia, so Slovaks gotta be feeling pretty confident in their team right now. Here's the recap and analysis plus a look at the games today:
YESTERDAY:
USA 6, NORWAY 1
- This game was never necessarily in doubt, but American fans must be concerned with this team's inability to cut down odd man rushes defensively. If Canada gets as many chances as Norway and even Switzerland got, it won't be a close game. This USA squad looks uncertain of itself in many ways. Defenders are constantly pinching, and forwards are not covering their spots because it seems every player on the ice wants to be the hero, and plays that way. Americans have to be pleased with Switzerland for taking Canada to a shootout, thus making the showdown on Sunday witht the Canadians a win and you're in with a first round bye, lose and you might have to play in the first round.
CANADA 3, SWITZERLAND 2 (SHOOTOUT)
- Switzerland is a team designed around defense. More precisely, they are designed to take on Canada with the way that they play. Numerous times in the game, the Swiss defense flustered and frustrated the Canadian attack. The Swiss control the superstars through the neutral zones, and they trap them in the offensive zone. Go ahead and call the Swiss team an international version of the New Jersey Devils. This is the second time in the last two olympics that Switzerland has skated right with the Canadians, and to see the Canadians need a shooutout gives the USA team hope. Jonas Hiller is a legitimate star goalie in the NHL, and without him, the score of this game is much different. Don't fault him for being scored on by Sidney Crosby in the shooutout, fault the Swiss offense for not supporting their goaltender or scoring in the shootout against a Martin Brodeur that looked quite beatable in this game. Too bad for the United States Marty probably isn't playing on Sunday, I'd bet on Marc-Andre Fleury.
SLOVAKIA 2, RUSSIA 1 (SHOOTOUT)
- This game was easily the game of the day, and Slovakia shocked many in the hockey world with this win. To be honest though, the Russian offense went a little cold in this game, and Ilya Bryzgalov is not necessarily the guy you want in shootouts because of his size and lack of quickness. The Slovakians hung around a day after being beaten by their rivals in a game in which the Slovaks took numerous penalties. On this night, however, the Slovaks maintained their discipline and it was the Russians who became frustrated. One can question the Russian coach for having Ovechkin shoot 3 times in the shootout, whilst Malkin and Kovalchuk only shot once each. The Slovaks are sitting pretty for now, with their only opponent remaining being a Latvian team that was smashed by this Russian squad. Russia is put in a bit of a bind, but they certainly have the skill to dig themselves out of what at most for this team is a minor obstruction in playing in the first round. They must win on Sunday, or face a grab bag of teams that could really include anyone from the United States to Sweden or even Finland. Canada still could play in the first round as well.
FRIDAY'S GAMES
1:00- SWEDEN 4, BELARUS 2 FINAL
5:30- CZECH REPUBLIC VS. LATVIA
10:00- FINLAND VS. GERMANY
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