Olympic Discussion Thread 2/16

Hey, Wilderness!

Hope you've been enjoying the Olympic Hockey. Of course, if you managed to fail to enjoy yesterday's Russia-USA game, I question whether you're actually a hockey fan.

And there was plenty of hockey yesterday, and will be plenty today. Let's take a look behind, and then look ahead to this morning's matches.

Women's Hockey

Switzerland 2, Russia 0

Stefanie Marty got the game-winning goal in the first period, and Florence Schelling stopped a whopping 41 shots from Russia. Russian goaltender Anna Prugova also had a good game, stopping 25 of 26.

Sweden 4, Finland 2

Finland had a 1-0 lead entering the third that was quickly reversed by Anna Borgvist's power play goal 48 seconds into the third period. A back-and-forth third period saw the teams locked in a 2-2 tie with five minutes remaining. It was all Sweden from there, as Emma Eliasson scored the go-ahead goal on the power play, and Emma Nordin scored an empty-netter to seal it. Pernilla Winberg contributed 3 assist to Sweden's cause.

Finland vs. Germany, Classification Round, 2:00 AM

Russia vs. Japan, Classification Round 11:00 AM

Men's Hockey

Sweden 5, Latvia 3

Slovenia 3, Slovakia 1

United States 3, Russia 2 (SO)

Here.

Switzerland 1, Czech Republic 0

Austria vs. Norway, Group B Prelims, 2:00 AM

#VanekWatch continues with Austria's game against Norway. Austria had poor showings against Finland and Canada, so this game is mostly for pride.

Russia vs. Slovakia, Group A Prelims, 7:30 AM

Russia will attempt to rebound from their shootout loss to Team America, but all is far from lost. Slovakia has been a dumpster fire in this tournament so far, and by losing in the shootout to the Americans, a regulation win could very easily get them a bye to the quarterfinals, anyway. An embarrassed Slovakian team may come out playing hard, but Russia has the talent to dispatch them.

USA vs. Slovenia, Group A Prelims, 7:30 AM

The United States needs to win this game to secure a bye to the quarterfinal round, and while on paper this shouldn't be a problem, they did just shock Slovakia. They pushed Russia a bit, too, playing Russia to a 1 goal game in the third period.

Canada vs. Finland, Group B Prelims, 11:00 AM

This is the marquee game of the day. Finland was written off by a lot of people when they found out that Kaptain Mikko Koivu wouldn't be able to make it to the Olympic Games. They've come out strong, matching the Canadians in terms of demolishing Norway and Austria. They'll get their first major test of these Olympics, with a bye on the line. If I end up watching only one game tomorrow morning (and that's looking more and more likely of a proposition), it will be this one. And not just because it's at 11.

So, have at it, Wilderness. Discuss today's games in the comments.