Florida Panthers rookie Aleksander Barkov had a successful first Olympic outing yesterday for the Finns, collecting an assist in an 8-4 rout of Austria. Tomas Kopecky and the rest of his Slovak teammates got blown out 7-1 by a powerful looking United States team. Canada dominated at times, but had a hard time finishing in a 3-1 win over Norway, while the host Russians got by Slovenia 5-2.
Today’s Games
- Group B/
Canada vs. Austria – Bolshoy Ice Dome 12:00 p.m. EST (USA)
Finland vs. Norway – Shayba Arena 12:00 p.m. EST (MSNBC)
- Group C/
Sweden vs. Latvia – Bolshoy Ice Dome 3:00 a.m. EST (MSNBC)
Czech Republic vs. Switzerland – Bolshoy Ice Dome 7:30 a.m. EST (NBCSN)
* Games can also be seen on nbcolympics.com (you will need to verify your cable/satellite account)
Yesterday’s results
- Group A/
United States 7 Slovakia 1
Team USA scored six straight goals during the second period to snap a 1-1 tie in an impressive opening-game performance. Paul Stastny scored twice and Phil Kessel fired home a goal and added two assists to spark the Americans to the easy win. Jonathan Quick stopped 22 of 23 shots. Tomas Tatar tallied the only Slovak goal.
Panther in action: Tomas Kopecky didn’t score or have a shot on goal, but somehow managed to escape Shayba Arena with an even rating.
Russia 5 Slovenia 2
Alexander Ovechkin opened the scoring and Evgeni Malkin added an a goal and two assists for the Russians. Slovenia got two goals from Ziga Jeglic to make it 3-2 after two periods, but Russia scored twice in the final frame to pull away.
- Group B/
Finland 8 Austria 4
Minnesota’s Mikael Granlund and Jarkko Immonen each scored twice to power Finland to an easy win over Austria. Panther for a preseason, Michael Grabner notched a hat trick for the outgunned Austrians.
Panther in action: Aleksander Barkov drew an assist on Immonen’s third period power-play goal that made the score 7-3. He finished the game with one shot on goal and a +2 rating.
Canada 3. Norway 1
Canada got goals from Shea Weber, Jamie Benn and Drew Doughty to vanquish pesky Norway. Patrick Thorsen scored the lone marker for the Norwegians. Montreal netminder Carey Price stopped 19 shots to get the win. Goaltender Lars Haugen, who made 38 saves, was stellar in defeat for Norway.