Team Canada opened its Olympic preliminary round with a decisive 5-1 rout of the Swiss, while Sweden topped Norway 4-0. Finland and the Czech Republic also came out on the top in the second day of action in Pyeongchang.
Finland 5, Germany 2
Finland opened the scoring just 3:13 in on a goal by Sami Lepisto. They held that lead for only about five and a half minutes before Brooks Macek tied it for Germany. Former Sabres defenseman Christian Ehrhoff assisted.
Before the first period ended, Finland took the 2-1 lead on a goal by Mika Pyorala. They went up 3-1, then 4-1, in the second period with goals from Eeli Tolvanen and Lasse Kukkonen.
Germany tried to rally back, snagging an early goal in the third period. Frank Hordler scored just 1:51 in. But Finland got that one back thanks to Joonas Kemppainen later in the third on the power-play, their third PPG of the game, and skated off with the win.
Ehrhoff had the one assist and was a minus-2 in 21:38. Former Sabres prospect Felix Schutz had two penalty minutes and one shot on goal in 14:43.
Sweden 4, Norway 0
Sweden simply totally overpowered Norway, outshooting them 27-17 and holding them scoreless through 60 minutes of play.
Par Lindholm and Anton Lander struck for the Swedes in the first period. Dennis Everberg and Mikael Wikstrand added goals in the third period.
Viktor Fasth was in net for Sweden, so former Sabres netminder Jhonas Enroth did not play. It was Fasth’s first Olympic start. Linus Omark had three assists and was a plus-4 in 15:34.
NHL Draft prospect Rasmus Dahlin did not play. He was a healthy scratch. (Yes, you read that right.)
Czech Republic 2, Korea 1
The Czech Republic outshot Korea 40-18 and skated off with a 2-1 win.
Korea came out with the lead 7:34 in to the game on a goal by Minho Cho, but the Czechs tied it on the power play later in the opening period. Jan Kovar had the tying goal for his team, about four minutes before Michal Repik scored shorthanded to make it 2-1 Czech.
And… that was it for the scoring in the game, despite a handful of power-play chances on both sides in the second and third periods.
Canada 5, Switzerland 1
Despite being outshot, Canada dominated the Swiss in their first preliminary round game of the tournament.
Rene Bourque opened the scoring just 2:57 in, with Maxim Noreau adding a power-play goal later in the opening frame to make it a 2-0 game. Former Buffalo Sabres forward Derek Roy assisted on both tallies.
The scoring continued in the second, as Bourque notched his second of the game, on the power-play. Again, Roy had the assist. Wojtek Wolski also scored in the second, just 52 seconds after Bourque, to make it 4-0.
Following the goal, the Swiss pulled Leonardo Genoni, putting Jonas Hiller in net.
Simon Moser put the Swiss on the board in the third period, with Hiller out of the net on a delayed call. Despite the goal against, Canada was strong enough to maintain their lead. Wolski potted an empty-netter with just over five minutes to play to seal the victory.
Ben Scrivens had 28 saves in net for Canada.
Former Sabres defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani played 16:09.
Next Action (day & time EST)
United States vs. Slovakia (Thursday, 10:10 p.m., CNBC)
Olympic Athletes from Russia vs. Slovenia (Friday, 2:40 a.m., NBCSN)
Finland vs. Norway (Friday, 7:10 a.m., USA Network)
Sweden vs. Germany (Friday, 7:10 a.m., NBCSN)