MILAN (AP) — Auston Matthews scored twice and set up Zach Werenski’s goal with a textbook pass, Connor Hellebuyck stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced and the U.S. defeated Germany 5-1 on Sunday night to finish group play at the Olympics unbeaten and clinch the second seed in the knockout round.
Canada put such a beatdown on France, winning 10-2, that the U.S. would have had to run up the score and beat Germany by 10 goals to pass the tournament favorite. The North American rivals cannot meet until the gold medal game.
They have to get there first. The U.S. is set to face the winner of the qualification round game Tuesday between Sweden and Latvia, while Canada plays Czechia or Denmark in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Sweden is the only European team at the Olympics with a full roster of NHL players, won two of its three preliminary round games and only dropped to seventh because of a goal differential tiebreaker.
It could be quite the test for the U.S., which has only faced Latvia, Denmark and Germany so far.
The Germany game was a chance for the Americans to fine-tune their play before the tournament goes to single-elimination playoffs. Matthew Tkachuk had a pair of assists, and Matthews, the captain just as he was at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago, had his best showing of the tournament.
Hellebuyck also looked good in his second start, allowing only a goal to Tim Stützle. The U.S. got the goaltending it expected from him after a shaky outing from Jeremy Swayman 24 hours earlier.
Crosby, McDavid and Canada crush France
Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid each had a goal and two assists in a clinical, businesslike 10-2 dismantling of France. Canada finished round robin play undefeated, outscoring opponents by 17 goals over three games.
“We did what we came to do,” said McDavid, who leads all scorers in Milan. “We came to win a hockey game and continue to get better.”
The blowout also included Tom Wilson fighting the player who delivered a forearm to Nathan MacKinnon’s face a couple of minutes earlier. MacKinnon returned and Wilson was ejected, since fighting is a game misconduct under international rules, but the already popular teammate earned even more respect inside Canada’s locker room.
“He’s going to stick up for his guys,” forward Sam Bennett said. “He’s a leader on this team and he’s a guy that’s going to protect our guys and do whatever it takes for our team.”
Macklin Celebrini, Canada’s youngest player at 19, scored on a penalty shot and on the power play against France to give him four goals in three games. Wilson, picked by coach Jon Cooper to ride shotgun on the top line on McDavid’s right wing, also had a goal, an assist and some big hits.
Mark Stone scored short-handed with 3.4 seconds left in the first period and had two assists. Brandon Hagel had Canada’s ninth goal in the third before Celebrini scored the 10th.
Switzerland wins one for Kevin Fiala
Rallying around the absence of injured winger Kevin Fiala, Switzerland beat Czechia 4-3 in overtime to give itself an easy path to the quarterfinals.
Winning the preliminary round finale means captain Roman Josi’s team next faces winless host Italy in the qualification playoffs Tuesday.
“We knew it was a big game,” said Josi, the Nashville Predators defenseman who scored Switzerland’s first goal by banking the puck off Radko Gudas’ left skate and in. “Obviously a lot of up and downs in that third period but found a way. It was a huge win against a really good team.”
Former Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Dean Kukan scored the overtime winner. In 172 NHL regular-season and playoff games, he had just six goals and ranked this one top three in his career.
Timo Meier of the New Jersey Devils and Pius Suter of the St. Louis Blues also scored for Switzerland, and 38-year-old national team goaltender Leonardo Genoni stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced.
Fiala, the Los Angeles Kings’ second-leading scorer, had surgery to repair what the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation only called a lower left leg injury. He sent his teammates a video message from his hospital bed, and coach Patrick Fischer hopes Fiala is back at the athletes’ village Monday.
“He’s still with us,” said Nico Hischer, who captains the Devils in the NHL. “We’ll play for him. And obviously you hate to see injury like that. He’s one of our best players, so it’s obviously a tough loss for us. But we know he’s still engaged with us, and he’ll cheer us on.”
Frederik Andersen steals a game for Denmark
Longtime NHL goaltender Frederik Andersen made 33 saves on 35 shots to give Denmark its first victory in Milan, 4-2 over Latvia.
Winning by two on an empty-netter also put Denmark ahead in the seeding, leaving Latvia to be 10th and face No. 7 Sweden in the qualification round Tuesday.
“There’s no easy teams, but we wanted to give our best shot at whatever comes next,” Andersen said.
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