The US men’s hockey team showed the world they want the gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. They annihilated Slovakia 7-1 on Thursday despite predictions of a close game.
Both teams played hard in the first period, but John Carlson put Team USA first on the scoreboard with a goal at 14:27 in the opening period to make it 1-0. The Americans received a small scare when Slovakia’s Tomas Tatar scored 24 seconds into the second period. The team appeared offsides, but it was not called.
That motivated the Americans and they immediately took over.
The men scored six goals in less than fourteen minutes. Ryan Kesler, David Backes, Phil Kessel and Dustin Brown each contributed a goal. Paul Stastny scored two goals in the victory.
Halfway through the period, Slovakia replaced goalie Jaroslav Halak with Peter Budaj. Halak made 20 saves out of 25 shots and Budaj saved six of eight shots.
Though the US team scored six goals in the second frame, their shots on goal outpaced the Slovakians just 16 to 13 for the period. Slovakia slowed down the US in the third period and both teams remained scoreless after firing six shots on goal, respectively, for the final period. The American team out shot Slovakia 33-23 for the contest.
US goalie Jonathan Quick saved 22 of 23 shots in his Olympic debut.
The big test for America comes on Saturday when they play Russia.
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