Brock Nelson and Warroad, Minnesota took center stage in the Team USA’s first victory of this Olympic tournament in Milan on Thursday.
Commonwealth Avenue made it’s presence felt on Saturday in the Yanks’ win over Denmark. And the Americans needed every bit of that Green Line contribution.
The US got two goals from Boston College products and two more from Boston University alums. Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists while Noah Hanafin’s second period goal held up as the game-winner in the Americans 6-3 win over the Danes.
It was not as easy as the final score would indicate for the US, who had to overcome a second period deficit. That’s because goalie Jeremy Swayman had a rough one, allowing two long distance goals to keep Denmark in it. The US dominated in every category but Swayman most likely sealed his fate to be a spectator for the rest of the Games.
“I thought we had a tough time executing in the first period,” American captain Auston Matthews told NBC. “You’ve got to give the other team credit. They played hard the whole game. I thought we just had to be patient with our game and crawl our way back into it. It’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish and I thought we finished really strong.”
While Denmark went with backup goalie Mads Sogaard – the working theory being they were saving No. 1 goalie Freddie Andersen of the “winnable” game against Latvia on Sunday – the Americans went with the Bruins’ netminder Swayman.
Swayman’s introduction to Olympic hockey was a nightmare.
The Danes got on the board just 1:40 into the game. Zach Werenski’s breakout pass attempt was stopped by Oscar Fisker Molgaard at the right point and he threw it toward the net. Nick Olesen tipped the puck and Swayman made a good save on the redirection but the rebound went off Werenski’s skate and through Swayman’s pads.
It was the Americans’ first deficit in these Olympics – but not their last.
The US tied it up quickly at 3:25. Quinn Hughes caught Denmark on a line change and quickly moved the puck to Matt Boldy. Moving down the left wing on a one-on-one, the Millis product and BC alum landed a shot that Sogaard stopped but Boldy collected the rebound. He took it behind the net and scored on thee wraparound, making it seemed like all was fine.
Then came the stunner at 11:16. From the red line along the left boards, Nick Jensen snapped a wrist shot on net and, whether Swayman thought Jensen was going to make the more conventional dump-in or he simply lost it in the dark gray area of the boars in the neutral zone, the puck beat Swayman over the blocker to give Denmark a 2-1 lead.
Swayman appeared to recover after that, making a couple of good saves, and the US held a 13-7 shot advantage in the first period. But they went into the first break with a 2-1 deficit. And Denmark went into the break with belief.
The Americans’ game was not crisp. They had several defensive zone turnovers in the first period and, when they got a power play early in the second, they didn’t mount much of an attack.
But in a blink, the US evened it up.
Chelmsford’s Eichel won a faceoff to the right of Sogaard. It went to his fellow Terrier Brady Tkachuk and the BU product wasted no time in ripping it over Sogaard’s blocker to even it up at 9:26.
Then they took their first lead just 57 seconds later, this time off a draw in the other circle. Eichel did not win the draw cleanly but a fortunate bounce put the puck back on Eichel’s blade. Like Tkachuk before him, Eichel quickly took his shot and beat Sogaard to the short side, by the netminder’s glove.
The US was starting to feel it and the Yanks pushed it to a two-goal lead when Norwood native and former Eagle Hanafin beat Soogard. Hanafin’s original shot was blocked but the rebound came right back to him and he beat Sogaard off the inside of the netminder’s pads. The puck just barely made it over the line.
Auston Matthews had a chance to give the US a three-goal lead but he could not elevate the puck over Sogaard’s pad from the side of the net.
A goal there would have been helpful.
Swayman’s issues were still there, however. After the Americans’ took an icing call in the waning seconds of the period. The Danes won the faceoff and Phillip Bruggisser beat Swayman with a slapper from the blue line with three seconds left in the second. Swayman was screened a bit by J.T. Miller, but it was a shot that should have been stopped.
That’s not the way the US wanted to go into the dressing room but that was the last goal Swayman would allow.
“He knows we have his back,” said Matthews of Swayman. “Those are tough plays sometimes and they happen. We’ve ot his back all the time no matter what. Good on the guys to keep his spirits lifted and he hung in there well and played great the rest of the game.”
But the Americans took it to the Danes in the third period to push the lead back to two at 7:25. After dominant shift inside the Denmark zone, Matthews got control of a loose puck and fed Jake Guentzel in the slot for the insurance tally.
Sogaard had to be replaced by Frederik Dichow because of an apparent injury midway through the period. Then Jack Hughes added one more pad goal when his centering pass intended for Tkachuk went off Dichow and in at 14:27.
At that point, the Americans could finally start thinking about Sunday’s opponent, Germany, before they get to finish the qualification round play.
