If there’s one thing to take away from Olympic hockey, it’s that we’ve been robbed of incredible hockey for the last two Winter Olympics without NHL players. The first round had some good games, but the Wednesday slate ended up being one of the best days of hockey in a long time.
The first round started with Germany and France. Edmonton Oilers’ superstar Leon Draisaitl led the charge, opening the game with a power play goal just minutes into the game. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare finally scored the first French goal with France down 3-0, but it was futile in an eventual German 5-1 win. Draisaitl finished with a goal and two assists.
Olympics hosts Italy, looking for its first win in hockey Olympics since 1998, faced a Switzerland team fresh off losing one of their best players in Kevin Fiala. Phillip Kurashev and Roman Josi opened the game up for the Swiss in a first period which saw Switzerland outshoot Italy 18-2. Despite an incredible performance by Italian goaltender Damian Clara, a 3-0 loss kept the host winless.
Czechia and Denmark’s game was the tightest of the first playoff round. A scoreless first period turned into a five goal second, with the Czechs winning 3-2. Marty Necas led his team’s effort in a two-point performance.
The final game was between Sweden and Latvia. Latvia put up a valiant effort throughout the Olympics, but it was no match for the Swedes in a blowout 5-1 victory led by three Lucas Raymond assists.
The first round featured many matchups where the skill difference was massive heading in, but the second round looked to be a lot tighter.
Game one of the quarterfinals featured Slovakia and Germany. The 6-2 Slovakian win was by far the least eventful match of the day, with Pavol Regenda recording three points.
Canada, considered the odds-on favorite for gold, faced a struggling Czechia seen as weak beyond David Pastrnak. With Canada seen as such a lock, the expectation was an easy victory.
Macklin Celebrini opened the scoring just three minutes in to begin the expected onslaught.
No onslaught came. Czechia tied it and took then took the lead on a Pastrnak goal, and for the first time all tournament, the Canadians trailed.
Nathan Mackinnon tied it up in the second, but the Canadians lost Sidney Crosby for the game on a Radko Gudas hit. Crosby’s influence extends beyond his on-ice play, serving as the captain of team Canada and as such being a huge leadership presence.
Heading into the third tied already felt like a loss for the lofty expectations of team Canada, but it only got worse with an Ondrej Palat go-ahead goal and just eight minutes left.
Nick Suzuki tied it up for the Canadians with just under four to go in regulation, eventually sending the game to overtime.
The stakes were set. A Czechia goal would mean one of the greatest upsets in hockey history and would also prevent the one seed from medaling.
Mitch Marner, outcast by his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs’ fanbase and media less than a year earlier, proved his worth to his nation. A Celebrini pass found Marner in front for the shot to save the day and prevent his team from the wrong side of history.
Despite the win, the close finish proves that Canada is a beatable team and gives a sense of hope to the rest of the field.
The Switzerland-Finland game began during the prior game, with two quick goals for the Swiss giving them a 2-0 lead they’d carry to the third.
Sebastian Aho cut the deficit to one in the third, and three Dallas Stars in Roope Hintz, Mikko Rantanen and Miro Heiskanen all contributed to the game tying goal with just over a minute to go, sending a second straight quarterfinal game to the extra frame.
Colorado Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen continued his clutch-time heroics in this game, scoring the overtime goal to send his team to the semis. Lehkonen scored the overtime winner to send his team to the Stanley Cup final in 2021 and 2022 with two different teams and would score the Cup winning goal in 2022 for Colorado. A solid player most of the time, Lehkonen has a real case as the most clutch player in hockey.
The final game of the day featured the Sweden and USA, the latter of which holds a 66-year losing streak against the former. Detroit Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin got on the board first for America, assisted by the Hughes brothers for a UMich connection.
The USA held on for a long time before ceding a goal to New York Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad with a minute and a half to go.
The ensuing overtime would be the longest of the three on the day, with back-and-forth chances just not converting.
Three and a half minutes in, Quinn Hughes found himself with a shot in the slot in front of the net and ripped it by Jacob Markstrom for a beautiful goal to send his team to the semifinals.
It will be hard for the next rounds to live up to this past one, but the parity of matchups could contribute to a great slate of games.
The semifinals start today with Canada and Finland at 10:40 a.m. followed by USA and Slovakia at 3:10 p.m. The bronze medal game will be 2:40 p.m. tomorrow and the gold medal game at 8:10 a.m. on Sunday.