Olympic Pool Update (Day 2, Feb 13)

Did anyone get up really early to watch the early games on Thursday morning? I know, here in Canada, we're pretty lucky that our home team is getting some prime time action and getting those 10am MT starts.

Every team has now played a game and now everyone is getting in the mix.  The first games are all about getting legs moving and second games are going to be about possibly getting some back-up goaltenders in the crease or giving them an opportunity to earn some time down the stretch.

Nevertheless, all twelve teams have played and we'll quickly go over the eight teams and four games that went on Thursday in Sochi.

Now, myself personally, I'm not getting up at (or staying up until) 1:30am to watch the early, early games, so no, I was not up for the Finland/Austria match-up.  By the scoreline, I am kind of glad that I didn't get up for it, as Finland dominated the game from the last minute of the 1st period and onwards.

Finland scored a pair of goals in the final minute of the opening frame, making it a 4-2 game, and appeared to finish up pretty strong, winning the game, 8-4.

In the pool, the big player of the game was Jussi Jokinen, who scored the winning goal for a couple of points and added a couple of assists for a 4-point effort in the competition.  As our 4-point player yesterday was, Jokinen was also only taken once in the pool, taken by Thor, instead of some other good players in Box 5.

Also having a good day for Finland were Mikael Granlund (pictured above), who had 2 goals and an assist, while being picked seven times in the pool.  Tuukka Rask got the win for the Finns, taken once, and Alexander Barkov, taken once, had a goal and an assist.

Austria did have three players on the sheet, none of which were taken, but Michael Grabner may have had a few people pondering what could have been, since he scored a hat-trick in the loss.

One roster note from the game, the Finns are carrying three NHL goaltenders, so one was bound to find the press box and in game one, it was Antti Niemi, who was taken once, watching the game from above.  It sounds like Kari Lehtonen will get the nod tomorrow, so Niemi may be the odd-man out in this tournament.

In the first of the two 5:30am MT games this morning, the Russians had their hands full with Slovenia to start the tournament, as the underdogs were holding their own through two periods, entering the final frame at a score of 3-2 Russia.  A couple more goals in the final 20 minutes was enough for a more lopsided scoreline of 5-2, but it wasn't the easiest game for the host team.

Evgeni Malkin, arguably one of the most important players on the Russian team, came up big, leading the way with 2 goals and an assist for a 3-point start to the tournament.  Russia will be leaning on their big guns and despite a slow start against Slovenia, guys like Malkin proved that they're up for the challenge.

The only other multi-point Russians taken in the pool were Semyon Varlamov, who picked up the win for the five teams that picked him and Alex Ovechkin, who was taken 22 times, had a goal and an assist.

The bonus point for the game-winning goal went unclaimed, as Ilya Kovalchuk, who was mired in the same box as Malkin and Sidney Crosby, got no love.

Slovenia only has one player on the sheet, Anze Kopitar, was taken twice and he chipped in an assist for his true believers.

In the other 5:30am MT game, it may have taken the USA a period to get their game legs, but once they did, Slovakia had no answer for what the Americans had to offer.  The boys in red, white and blue were able to put up a 6-spot in the middle frame, and flexed their muscle for a 7-1 win to open up the tournament.

Two Americans were able to post 3-point games against the Slovaks, as Ryan Kesler scored the winner and added an assist, while Phil Kessel had a goal and 2 assists in the game.  Scoring wasn't going to be the biggest issue for the US, so these offensive explosions didn't come as a surprise.

Jonathan Quick picked up the opening win, James Van Riemsdyk, Patrick Kane, John Carlson, T.J. Oshie and Paul Stastny all rounded out the players who had 2 points each.  Quick and JVR, the most popular of the bunch, taken five times each, spread out some points through the pool, which is good news.

The most-popular American on the Sheet, Max Pacioretty, taken 10 times, did manage an assist.

Slovakia had a fair number of players on the Selection Sheet, but only three players had any love in the picks: Zdeno Chara, taken five times, Andrej Meszaros, taken thrice, and Marcel Hossa was taken once.  None of the three managed to pick up a point on the only goal for Slovakia.

As for roster notes, Derek Stepan, taken three times, was a healthy scratch for the Americans.  No word yet on whether or not he'll feature in the next game against the Russians.

Finally, the marquee game for everyone in the pool, the Canadians opened up the tournament against Norway and they were held in check for quite a while.  The Norwegians were able to hold their shape for 26 minutes before the favourites were able to punch a goal through and take the advantage in the game.

Canada had to work hard in this one and a 3-1 result was a testament to the push back that Norway gave defensively, as they could have just rolled over and given out a bundle of goals that would have made all you poolies wet in your pants.

No, the Norwegians limited multi-point games to Carey Price (win), Jamie Benn (GWG), Patrice Bergeron (2 assists) and Drew Doughty (goal & assist).

The most popular player/Canadian in the pool, Sidney Crosby, was held off the scoresheet, making his Box 1 dominance a tad weak after game number one.

Norway only has one participant in the NHL today, Mats Zuccarello, and he was an option on the Sheet.  Of course, no one exercised that option, nor did they feel bad about it, as he was unable to hit the scoresheet today.

As for line-up notes, P.K. Subban, taken four times, and Matt Duchene, also taken four times, were healthy scratches for the game against Norway.  Both players are expected to dress against Austria, but there was no word on who was coming out.  Carey Price is also expected to be the healthy scratch on Friday, as Mike Smith will back-up Roberto Luongo.

A big injury concern from Sweden's camp, as Henrik Zetterberg has been diagnosed with a herniated disc in his back and his participation for Friday against Switzerland, not to mention the rest of the tournament, is now in question.  Zetterberg, taken five times, was going to be a crucial pick-up for these certain teams in the pool, but if he cannot go, that will be a huge hole in their pool line-up, coming out of Box 3.

The big winners (sorry, I don't have an animated gif for this) on Thursday were Clayton and Scott A., who each finished with 16 points on the day. Clayton cashed in on Malkin, Ovechkin, Varlamov, Kesler, Barkov and Price for his big day, while Scott had Malkin, Ovechkin, Doughty, Kesler and Granlund for multi-point games.  There were a couple teams with 15 points on the day as well, but no one was able to catch Rob A.'s second team, which had 13 points on the day and remained in the lead, albeit dropped to only 2 points.