Olympic Hockey Day 2 Recap: Canada Rolls, USA Recovers, Switzerland Shines, Germany Survives

Kicking off a jam packed day two schedule, there were four games on the docket as teams from Groups A and C took to the Olympic stage. Switzerland and France got things started with Canada and Czechia playing later in the morning, USA-Latvia and Germany-Denmark in the afternoon.

Team Switzerland Vs. Team France

While this may have seemed like the least exciting of the match-ups, Switzerland has had a fair amount of success on the international stage in recent years. Their proximity to Milan certainly helped carry the energy and spirits from yesterday's Italy-Sweden matchup.

• It only took 55 seconds for Switzerland to get on the board as former Washington Capitals draft pick Damien Riat converted on an early power play. Riat played 33 games with the Hershey Bears in the 2020-21 season but never made the NHL.
• It wasn't long before they made it 2-0 as Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser beat France's netminder Antoine Keller with a clean wrist shot from the slot.
• France got a power play shortly after which helped break up the momentum but Switzerland was absolutely dominating them at the start. They settled down as the period went on and after twenty minutes, Switzerland was up 2-0 out-shooting the French 16-11.
• Credit to Team France, the second period was a much better look for them. Shots after two periods were 30-19 in Switzerland's favor but make no mistake, France was making a game out of this one.

• France held on as long as they could but around the midway point of the third, Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi wrapped the puck around the net which allowed for Timo Meier to put it home and extend his country's lead to 3-0.
• Meier would become the story in the third period here as he picked up another goal about six minutes later.
• Switzerland would shut down the French with a 4-0 win. Pretty memorable moment for Leonardo Genoni, the 38-year-old goaltender who was never drafted or played anywhere outside of Switzerland. He has won a total of five championships in the Swiss-A League.

Team Canada Vs. Team Czechia

• It appeared as though the Czechs were running on borrowed time as Team Canada got an early power play. For context, that power play consists of Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Sam Reinhart. Seven cups between those five names (none for McDavid, yet)
• Czechia fought off the penalty kill and for a while, was holding Canada off.
• Nathan MacKinnon made it a 1-0 game for a brief moment in time on an absolute snipe of a shot that was called off due to a Nick Suzuki trip that happened prior to the goal.
• The Czechs couldn't convert on the power play but were playing hard and sticking with Canada. Shots were tied at 11 apiece after 20 minutes however, in the dying seconds of the opening period, Canada finally broke through.
• A shot from Makar at the point tipped off the stick of Macklin Celenbrini to properly give Canada the 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Celebrini did a great job of planting himself in front of Czechia's net and got the stick on it just below the crossbar.

• Things were going pretty well for Canada as far as the game went. Only problem was Josh Morrissey went down with an injury and would end up not returning to the game. Each team gets to dress an extra forward and defenseman in this tournament so Canada still had even defense pairs throughout the outing.
• With about six and a half to go in the second, Mitch Marner made a nice backhand pass to Mark Stone at the doorstep to make it a 2-0 game.

• Late in the second, Bo Horvat found himself in all alone and pulled off a simple and effective move to sneak a backhander through the legs of Lukas Dostal, extending Canada's lead to 3-0 heading into the second intermission.

• About eight minutes into the third, that lethal power play converted for Canada as Nathan McKinnon finished on a textbook passing play with Crosby and McDavid to make it 4-0.
• McDavid picked up his third assist of the game later in the period as Nick Suzuki found the back of the net to seal the deal by a score of 5-0. Jordan Bennington had a 26-save shutout to help his team win their first game of the preliminary round.

Team USA Vs. Team Latvia

• Following a dominant start for the Americans, Matthew Tkachuk set up his brother Brady for a clean shot at the top of the circle that sailed right past Elvis Merzlikins and went in off the post to make it a 1-0 game five and a half minutes in.

• A minute and a half later, J.T. Miller found his former teammate Quinn Hughes open in the high slot which allowed for him to send a shot through traffic to the back of the net, extending their lead to 2-0. Upon further review, the play was ruled offsides as Brock Nelson crossed the blue line before having full possession of the puck which brought the score back to 1-0.
• Not long after, the Latvians pushed hard to get to the front of the Americans net and after a couple whacks at the puck, Renars Krastenbergs put it home to tie the game up 1-1. Krastenber played two seasons with the Oshawa Generals in the OHL and has bounced around ever since, currently playing with Olomouc HC in Czechia.
• The Americans regained the lead with eight and a half to go in the period, or so we thought. A shot from Brock Faber at the point redirected off the stick of Nelson with Miller also creating havoc in front. Team Latvia opted to challenge this goal as well and were successful in doing so as Miller made contact with Merzlikins, resulting in goaltender interference. It would remain a 1-1 game.
• The Latvians nearly scored immediately after but a remarkable defensive effort from Matt Boldy got him in front of the wide open net to help Connor Hellebuyck in making a save.
• Team USA got the first power play of the game with about four minutes to go but would come up empty handed on the advantage. They hit two posts and had two goals overturned to head into the first intermission tied with Latvia 1-1.
• Latvia would get their first man advantage of the outing just 40 seconds into the second period as Jake Guentzel was called for hooking. Their power play had a couple of good looks with Alberts Smits running point and doing so with incredible confidence for an 18-year-old.
• For the first half of the period, Latvia was doing a good job of keeping up with the Americans but midway through, a costly defensive error by Smits allowed for Jack Hughes to find Nelson breaking hard to the net where he cut to the back hand to beat Merzlikins for real this time, 2-1.
• The Americans absolutely exhausted the Latvians late in the period as Smits and his defense partner were caught out there for at least three minutes. It wasn't just them suffering the effects as Merzlikins was completely gassed by the end of the shift as well.
• The extended time in Latvia's zone came to an end as they took a cross-checking penalty. Tage Thompson would use his hands and size as the net front presence and converted on a top shelf backhander to make it a 3-1 game.
• Team USA finished the period as strong as they had looked down the stretch as Jack Hughes led this immaculately smooth passing play that sent up Nelson for his second of the night. Latvia didn't stand a chance on this one, especially after being pinned in their own end for the last quarter of the second period. 4-1 USA.

• Artur Silovs would come in to replace Merzlikins to start the third period. Understandable given the workload the Columbus Blue Jackets net minder faced in those first 40 minutes.
• Former NHLer Kaspers Daugavins took a penalty for Latvia early in the third giving USA another man advantage. Auston Matthews would convert on a shot from the slot to extend their lead 5-1.

• Team USA would continue to run the show and left this one with a 5-1 win. They out-shot Latvia 37-17.

Team Germany Vs. Team Denmark

• It only took Leon Draisaitl 23 seconds to make his Olympic mark as he gave Team Germany the 1-0 lead early against the Danes.
• With about seven minutes to go in the first, Seattle Kraken draft pick Oscar Fisker Molgaard would tie the game up for Denmark, scoring on his teammate Phillip Grubauer on a nice drive to the net.
• Through the first twenty minutes, it was a relatively even game with Denmark having the slight edge. Germany seemed to sit back a bit after the early goal but overall, it was a good match.
• Just over four minutes into the second, J.J. Peterka made a beautiful back handed pass which set up Tim Stutzle for the quick shot in the slot. Stutzle scored while falling to regain Team Germany's lead, now 2-1.
• Through two periods of play, Denmark had the only two penalties of the game and one would cost them halfway through the second. Tim Stutzle picked up his second of the night to extend the lead for Germany 2-1.
• Germany got off to a dominant start in the third out-shooting the Danes 6-0 within the fist five minutes. He's no Connor McDavid but Frederik Tiffels was doing a great job of leading the charge alongside Draisaitl.
• With just under four minutes to go, Denmark pulled Fredrik Anderson for the extra attacker in attempts to get back into this one. The Danes made a big push and Oliver Bjorkstrand hit the post on a good scoring chance but the Germans were able to hold them off, skating away with a 3-1 win.
• Final shots on goal were 38-26 in Denmark's favor. Nico Sturm was among the standouts with some great defensive plays and tenacious efforts in both ends of the ice.