U.S. men’s hockey knocks down Germany, secures bye to quarterfinals

Despite a slow start, the United States sealed a perfect 3-0 record for the Olympic group stage by taking down Germany 5-1 on Sunday.

The victory gave the U.S. a direct ticket to the quarterfinal round. Team USA secured 1st place in Group C and the 2nd overall seed in the tournament. Meanwhile, Canada took the top spot after destroying France 10-2 earlier in the day.

MATCH RESULTS

Head coach Mike Sullivan told the team before Sunday’s game that he wanted it to feel like an NHL playoff game. The team followed coach’s orders.

“I thought it was our most complete game of the tournament,” Sullivan said after the win. “As this tournament starts to move forward, the stakes get higher, the competition gets stiffer, and I think our guys are excited for that challenge,” he added.

U.S. captain Auston Matthews led the team’s charge of intensity throughout the contest by adding two goals and an assist over Germany. He added that each Olympic game has been a step in the right direction for the squad of NHLers.

“The confidence just continues to grow within our group,” Matthews said. “I think just the chemistry, just being comfortable with one another, playing with new guys that maybe you’re not as used to playing with,” he added. 

After an almost scoreless first period, it was Zach Werenski who got on the board first for the Americans with nine seconds left, when he netted his first Olympic goal.

Brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk continued to provide a spark in the final group-stage game, and the duo connected with Brock Faber to give the team a three-goal lead.

Less than four minutes later, Tage Thompson scored a one-timer from deep, his second of the Games. Thompson’s goal, assisted by Dylan Larkin, put the U.S. ahead 4-0.

Tim Stutzle scored the lone goal for the Germans when he tallied the final goal of the game with less than eight minutes to go.

“Our goal coming in was to go 3-0 in group play, check that box, and move on. Don’t have to play in the play-ins and stuff,” Matthews said. “So, we accomplished that, and we got a lot more to accomplish now.”

Sullivan said the team will take Monday off to recover before they take the ice in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 3:10 p.m. ET. They’ll play the winner of the Sweden-Latvia qualification playoff (Feb. 17, 3:10 p.m. ET).