NHL • Olympics

Snarks On Ice: The NHL In Torino

Latvia 2, Kazakhstan 5
The Latvians managed to tie the game 2-2 early in the third period but then allowed Kazakhstan to score three goals, wrapping up a winless tournament. (Though they did play the US to a draw.) Sergey Alexandrov, who does not play in the NHL, got the winning goal for the Kazaks.

Switzerland 3, Italy 3
Mama mia! The outgunned Italians managed to take the Swiss to the brink, but a bad pass by Mario Chitarroni allowed Ivo Ruthemann to knot the score with three and a half minutes remaining. Still, those plucky Italians received a standing ovation from their countrymen for hanging tough with one of the top teams.

Finland 2, Germany 0
The Germans only managed to get off 18 shots on goal against the Fins, who have surrendered a total of two goals through the five-game tourney, so an upset was never really in the making. Both goals for Finland came on power plays, the first by Niko Kapanen (Dallas Stars) and the second from Saku Koivu (Montreal Canadiens).

Canada 3, Czech Republic 2
Team Canada survived a close one after dropping two in a row to close out the tournament with a third place finish in Group A. The heavily favored Canucks failed to score a single goal in their two losses but hung three on the Czechs in the first period. Brad Richards and Martin St-Louis, both of the Tampa Bay Lightning, along with Chris Pronger from the Edmonton Oilers scored for Canada. Despite the loss, New York Ranger Jaromir Jagr and his countrymen make the quarterfinals with a fourth place finish.

Sweden 0, Slovakia 3
Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, coach of the Swedish team, suggested to a television reporter before this match that it would be better for his squad to tie or lose to Slovakia. That way, he said, they would draw a weaker team such as Switzerland in the quarterfinals. Looks like his plan worked out.

United States 4, Russia 5
Team USA finally reached the net a few times after failing to score more than one point in two straight losses; unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough to get a win. Alexei Kovalev (Montreal Canadiens) scored the game winner with about eight minutes to play in the final period. So, the US backs into the quarterfinals as the fourth place team in Group B riding a three-game losing streak.

On Tap Today
Finland (5-0-0) vs. United States (1-3-1)
Slovakia (5-0-0) vs. Czech Republic (2-3-0)
Russia (4-1-0) vs. Canada (3-2-0)
Switzerland (2-1-2) vs. Sweden (3-2-0)

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