15.02 Hockey: US Scrapes to 3-2 Win Over Russia at Sochi Olympics
SOCHI, February 15 (R-Sport) – The US hockey team battled to a 3-2 shootout win over Russia at the Sochi Olympics on Saturday, all but assuring the Americans of a quarterfinal spot.
With President Vladimir Putin watching, Russia’s captain Pavel Datysuk twice scored in regulation but missed two shots in an eight-round shootout, which the US won through T.J. Oshie.
"My hands are a little tingling, my feet are tingling," Oshie said. "It was pretty nerve-racking out there. We knew it would take 65 minutes and then some" to win, he added.
For Russia, concerns are now mounting after defeat followed an uninspiring 5-2 win over outsider Slovenia on Thursday, and the host nation may now have to endure an extra playoff round ahead of the hockey quarterfinals.
"Obviously I'm very disappointed," said Russian goalie Semyon Varlamov. "It was a shootout; we wanted more. It is heartbreaking."
SKA St. Petersburg captain Ilya Kovalchuk played the defeat down.
"Everything is OK, nothing terrible has happened. We played good and showed our character by equalising the game at the end and now we will be getting ready for the future," he said.
The US sits top of Group A after adding the victory over the hosts to Thursday’s 7-1 pounding of Slovakia, and will progress directly to the quarterfinals as group winner, barring a surprise defeat to Slovenia on Sunday.
Russia plays Slovakia on Sunday.
Fittingly for a game preceded by memories of the 1980 Olympic “Miracle on Ice” US victory over the Soviet Union, the game was a fast, physical but skilful battle from start to finish.
Datsyuk gave the host nation the lead on 13:26, picking up a pass from Andrei Markov just behind the blue line and blasting past three Americans before hitting a low shot past goaltender Jonathan Quick’s glove.
The US answered seven minutes later when a James van Riemdyck shot rebounded off Russian goaltender Sergei Bobrovski’s leg. Patrick Kessel flicked the puck across the crease for Chris Fowler, who prodded over the line with his skate.
On 9:27 of the third, Joe Pavelski scored a sweet top-shelf one-timer to give the US the lead off an assist by Patrick Kane. Both of the US goals were scored with temperamental Russian forward Alexander Radulov in the penalty box.
Datsyuk struck back for Russia, however, three minutes later on a power-play.
The Russians thought they had scored a game-winner when Fedor Tyutin hit a fierce slapshot from the left-side boards, but the officials denied the goal on the grounds that the net had earlier been knocked off its moorings.
Patrick Kane should have won the game in otherwise uneventful overtime on a breakaway, but he shot straight at Bobrovski in the Russian goal.
Updated with detail, quotes, background.
