With both teams coming off impressive tournament-opening victories, the United States and Russia are making their final preparations ahead of an extremely enticing showdown as the opening round of 2014 Winter Olympics men's hockey slate continues. Russia received balanced help from each member that took to the ice for the home town favorites en route to a 5-2 victory over Slovenia. Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring for the Russian Federation, recording two goals in the opening three minutes to set the tone in rapid fashion.
Additional tallies from Ilya Kovalchuk, Valeri Nichushkin and Anton Belov helped the Russian Nationals earn a high-powered victory in their first step toward the Gold Medal. But Russia wasn't the only team displaying the ability to score at will. While Ovechkin and company were handling Slovenia, the United States appeared in great form throughout their opening contest against Slovakia. Leading 1-0 after the opening period thanks to a John Carlson tally, Team USA knew a stronger effort would be needed to take down a talented Slovakian team that finished fourth in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
After surrendering a goal to Tomas Tatar twenty-four seconds into the second frame, the United States went on an absolute tear, scoring six goals to put away their opponents in dominant fashion. Two goals from Paul Stastny and additional scores by Ryan Kesler, David Backes and Dustin Brown provided more than enough support for starting keeper Jonathan Quick, who was named the opener over 2010 goalie Ryan Miller hours before the drop of the puck Wednesday in Sochi. Extremely pleased with the effort against a very talented team, USA captain Zach Parise said the offensive explosion was unexpected but they'll take it any day.
“I guess you never really expect to beat a team like that 7-1, and you never do it in a tournament like this," Parise said. "We just capitalized on the chances we had, moved the puck well and used our speed.”
The US will certainly need to be on point Saturday against a Russian squad that undoubtedly holds the ability to score and defend as well as any team in the tournament. Jonathan Quick will start once again between the pipes for Team USA.
United States vs. Russia: DATE, TIME & VIEWING INFO
DATE: Saturday, February 15
TIME: 7:00am, ET
TV COVERAGE: NBC Sports Network
LIVE STREAM: CLICK HERE
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