MILAN — A common refrain in the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena mixed zone over the past couple of days, as chatter about goal differential and quarterfinal seeding increased, was that to get to the gold-medal game here in Milan, you’re going to have to beat a great team at some point. And if you’re one of the gold-or-bust teams in the tournament, does it really matter when?
In the final game of the group stage on Sunday night, the Americans needed to beat Germany by 10 goals in order to pass Canada for the No. 1 seed. They didn’t come close, beating Germany 5-1 in methodical fashion. As the No. 2 seed but winner of Group C, the United States still gets a bye into the quarterfinal. However, instead of a second-tier opponent, it will likely draw Sweden, which surprisingly fell to the No. 7 seed.
Captain Auston Matthews scored two goals and added an assist, defensemen Zach Werenski and Brock Faber and forward Tage Thompson scored the other goals, Matthew Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson had two assists apiece and Matt Boldy had eight of the Americans’ 37 shots.
Matthews has been coming on strong of late, starting with an excellent third period against Denmark on Saturday night. When he gets going, it gives the Americans a one-two punch down the middle in Jack Eichel and Matthews that can rival what even Canada can offer.
Slovakia’s surprising first-place finish in Group B has turned the tournament somewhat on its ear. The upshot is we could be in for some dynamite quarterfinal matchups. Canada, as the No. 1 seed, will get the winner of Czechia vs. Denmark, and the United States, as the No. 2 seed, will get the winner of Sweden vs. Latvia. Canada-Czechia and U.S.-Sweden are medal-level matchups, the Olympic equivalent of the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars meeting in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last year. Someone’s going home earlier than expected.
In the other qualification games, Germany will face France, with the winner getting No. 3 Slovakia, while Switzerland will face Italy, with the winner getting No. 4 Finland.
The qualification games will be held on Tuesday, with the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The semifinals are Friday, and the medal games are Saturday and Sunday.
Hellebuyck likely earns medal round
Connor Hellebuyck, in his second start of the tournament, recorded 23 saves for the victory. He has allowed two goals in two games and has surely earned the right to be the Americans’ No. 1 heading into the medal round.
Coach Mike Sullivan made it clear performance would dictate which of his three solid goalies would earn the right to be the starter in such a short tournament.
Jake Oettinger, the backup for Hellebuyck at the 4 Nations and relegated to No. 3 to start the tournament, backed up Hellebuyck on Saturday after being scratched the night before for Jeremy Swayman. But Swayman gave up three goals in the win and one would think Oettinger will now get to caddy for Hellebuyck the rest of the way.
“I think the way we’re going to approach it is, and this is just based on my own experience, that in tournaments like this — where things happen fast, they’re not very long — performance really matters,” Sullivan said earlier in the week. “And so we’re going to try to make decisions with every position that gives us the best chance to win.”
Another waved-off goal
If the Americans aren’t careful, they’re going to set some kind of record for disallowed goals in a short tournament.
One game after the U.S. had back-to-back Quinn Hughes and Brock Nelson goals overturned via challenges for offside and goalie interference, referee Wes McCauley waved off Eichel’s goal near the end of the first period after he blew the whistle to protect goalie Maximilian Franzreb after he lost his blocker and had his hand exposed after Tkachuk was pushed to the ice by way of the crease.
The fans weren’t happy. Nor was the United States bench. Didn’t matter: After the ensuing offensive-zone faceoff, Werenski snapped a 0-0 tie with 8.7 seconds left in the first period.
Collision course
It just wouldn’t be a Team USA first period without an embarrassing gaffe.
A night after Swayman let in a goal from Pisa, Matthews and Jack Hughes crashed into each other going after a Quinn Hughes drop pass during a first-period power play. Matthews cut across the ice, but Quinn Hughes left the drop pass for where he had been, not looking over his shoulder until releasing the puck. Jack Hughes started moving toward the pass but got steamrolled by the much bigger Matthews. Hughes got up quickly and got the puck to safety as two Germans rushed in after it.
Has Connor played himself out of the lineup?
At last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, Winnipeg Jets sniper Kyle Connor started on the first line, was quickly downgraded to the fourth line and ultimately ended up scratched in the final against Canada.
It was a decision largely panned, especially because Chris Kreider only played 6 ½ minutes in that final game and the staff had to know the injured Tkachuk was questionable to get through the game (6:47 of ice time). The Americans went on to lose in overtime.
Well, Connor was given a fresh start and made this Olympic team, starting the tournament on an appealing line with Dylan Larkin and World Championships hero Tage Thompson. Two games into the tournament, however, Connor has no shots on goal and was replaced by Clayon Keller Sunday night for his Olympic debut.
Matthew Tka-chirp
The last two NHL seasons have ended with Matthew Tkachuk’s Florida Panthers defeating Leon Draisaitl’s Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final. And with the U.S. leading in the second period, Sunday’s broadcast picked up Tkachuk offering his rival a helpful reminder.
“Always the bridesman, eh, Leon?” he said as the two skated near the benches. “Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.”