Three games into their Olympic schedule, and Team USA’s men’s hockey quest for a gold medal is going as planned.
Surprises have been limited for Team USA men’s hockey coach Mike Sullivan and his staff through three games. After dominating Team Germany on Feb. 15 with a 5–1 victory, Sullivan’s men are now playing the waiting game.
The winner of the Sweden and Latvia game on Feb. 17 will play Team USA, captained by Auston Matthews, the following day. Whichever team is victorious on Feb. 18 will advance to the Feb. 20 semifinals.
At the close of the preliminary round, Team USA is atop Group C and gains a bye from the qualifying round. Team USA earned the No. 2 seed position from among 12 teams skating in the opening round. Team Canada outscored their opponents 20–3 with a plus-17 goal differential and secured the No. 1 seed ranking.
Team USA’s Feb. 15 win over Team Germany wasn’t as close as the score may indicate. The Germans’ only goal, scored by Tim Stutzle, came late in the third period. Matthews put the puck in the back of Team Germany’s net twice in the first and third periods, and assisted Zach Werenski at 19:51 in the opening period for Team USA’s first score at Milano Santagiulia Arena before 11,497 fans.
Along with Sweden and Latvia skating on Feb. 17, there are three other games scheduled for the same day.
Germany and France meet, with the winner advancing to play Slovakia. Switzerland and Italy will collide, with the victor playing Finland. Canada will play the winner of the Czechia and Denmark game.
The bronze medal game is scheduled for Feb. 21, followed by the gold medal game on Feb. 22.
“It was a pretty much full 60 minutes,” forward Matthew Tkachuk told reporters on Feb. 15 after the 5–1 trouncing of Germany. “There were some shifts where we hemmed in a little bit, but we played tight and we blocked shots, live to fight another day.”
While Team USA has tallied 16 goals in their three preliminary games: 5–1 over Latvia, 6–3 overDenmark, and the 5–1 win over Germany, Team Canada has racked up an impressive 20 goals in three games. Team Canada, in Group A, is led by Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Nathan MacKinnon on offense.
The Feb. 17 game, pitting Sweden and Latvia, will be scouted closely by Team USA’s coaching staff. After routing Latvia 5–1 in their opening preliminary game, Team USA is well acquainted with the team’s strengths and weaknesses.
Sweden’s roster has all the makings of a team able to dominate Latvia.
Led by team captain Gabriel Landeskog, Willie Nylander, and Filip Forsberg, the Swedes present a high-scoring risk to Latvia on each of their shifts. Sweden’s defense is anchored by Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Sweden won Olympic gold during the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy, by defeating Finland 3–2 in the gold medal game.
Team USA captain Matthews was optimistic ahead of his team’s next game on Feb. 18.
“The confidence just continues to grow within our group,” Matthews said on Feb 15. “Each game, I think we’ve taken steps in the right direction of where we want to grow our game going into the quarterfinals, and it’s good to see.”
Connor Hellebuyck, Team USA’s first-string netminder, has participated in two of the three games played and leads all Olympic men’s goalies with a .952 save percentage.
Team USA’s Feb. 18 game can be viewed on Peacock, NBC, and the USA Network.
