By Trevor Stynes
MILAN, Feb 20 (Reuters) – The United States made light work of Slovakia with a 6-2 victory on Friday to set up the eagerly awaited Olympic men’s ice hockey final with Canada, where the Americans will aim to win their first gold since 1980.
The U.S. were in cruise control heading into the final period, five goals up through Dylan Larkin, Tage Thompson, Jack Eichel and a double from Jack Hughes, before Brady Tkachuk scored between a pair of Slovakian consolation goals.
Tempers flared in the final minutes, when the Tkachuk brothers, Brady and Matthew, got involved in a fight with Slovakia’s Erik Cernak and all three headed for an early shower after being hit with 10-minute penalties. Brady also received an extra two for roughing.
“A lot of guys in there, hard to see from the bench,” U.S. forward Brock Nelson said of the tussle. “But love the fire from my guys for sure.”
NHL players returned to the Games following a 12-year absence and expectations had been high that the North American rivals would reap the benefits and face off in the decider.
The U.S. obliged with ease after Canada’s tense 3-2 semi-final win over defending champions Finland, and the star-studded sides will meet in Sunday’s gold-medal decider at Santagiulia Arena.
“I think it’s what everyone wanted, this match-up in the gold medal game, and I’ve thought about it a lot,” Larkin said.
Slovakia take on Finland in Saturday’s bronze-medal game at the same venue.
Larkin put the U.S. in front in the fifth minute, collecting a pass just inside the blue line before charging forward, splitting the Slovak defenders, and sending a wrist shot on the fly over the shoulder of goalie Samuel Hlavaj.
Slovakia had two power plays in the opening period but could find no way through against the only side in the tournament yet to concede when shorthanded.
The Americans, on the other hand, took all of 17 seconds to score on their first power play in the final minute of the opening period, Thompson blasting a one-timer from a wide angle into the roof of the net.
QUICK-FIRE GOALS
The U.S. killed another two penalties early in the second period and the Americans netted two goals in the space of 19 seconds to all but end the game as a contest.
Hughes side-stepped Slovakia captain Tomas Tatar and ripped a shot into the top corner, and the arena announcer barely had time to catch breath before Eichel hit a backhand shot around the goalie.
Slovakia immediately replaced Hlavaj, but Stanislav Skorvanek held out less than six minutes before Hughes drilled home his second goal of the night to make it 5-0.
There was little celebration from Juraj Slafkovsky after he scored for Slovakia, and Brady Tkachuk restored the five-goal advantage with a breakaway goal before Pavol Regenda netted another to complete the scoring.
The U.S. remain on course to end their gold-medal drought, which has lasted since Lake Placid’s “Miracle on Ice,” when they beat the heavily favoured Soviet Union on the way to the Olympic title, and will hope to repeat what the women’s team did in beating Canada in Thursday’s final.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes in Milan; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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