Olympics: Matthews Two Goals, USA Defeats Germany 5-1

 

Team USA clinched first place in Group C, along with an automatic bye into the quarterfinals, when they secured their third consecutive win on Sunday against Team Germany at Santagiulia Arena. They enter the single-elimination round as the No. 2 seed, behind Canada. Captain America, Auston Matthews, found the back of the net twice and picked up an assist, playing a huge role in the United States controlling the play throughout their 5-1 victory against the Germans. Connor Hellebuyck was also a big part as he stood tall between the pipes, only allowing one goal from Germany in the third period. Zach Werenski, Brock Faber, and Tage Thompson also scored for the U.S. Tim Stutzle scored the lone goal for the Germans, who got handed their second straight loss.

USA Lineup:

B. Tkachuk - Eichel - M. Tkachuk

Guentzel - Matthews - Boldy

Keller - Larkin - Thompson

Miller - Nelson - J. Hughes

Trocheck

Q. Hughes - McAvoy

Slavin - Faber

Werenski - Sanderson

Hanifin

Hellebuyck

Oettinger

Germany Lineup:

Samanski - Draisaitl - Tiffels

Peterka - Stutzle - Reichel

Tuomie - Michaelis - Kahun

Rieder - Sturm - Ehl

Wagner - Seider

J. Muller - Wissmann

Kalble - Gawanke

M. Muller

Franzreb

Grubauer

Zach Werenski got the party started with only 9 seconds remaining in the first period when he received a cross-ice saucer pass from Auston Matthews for a quick shot through Mortiz Seider's legs and past Maximilian Franzreb for the 1-0 lead. After the puck was kept in the zone by the Americans after a German turnover, Quinn Hughes went down the wall to keep the play alive, and Matthews the puck above the left face-off circle before he found Werenski cutting down from the right point. In the first period, the U.S. outshot Germany 15-8.

Early in the middle frame, Matthews collected his second point of the game when he swept a shot by Q. Hughes, who took a pass from Matthew Tkachuk, into the net at 16:35. Quinn's shot from the left circle had ended up hitting Franzreb in the chest, which made the puck drop down to Matthews for a power-play goal to make it 2-0 for the Americans. Brock Faber struck later on in the second with 2:25 on the clock, extending it to 3-0 after taking a pass from M. Tkachuk, who got the puck from his brother Brady, and Faber fired from the right point, finding its way into the net off Franzreb's glove, who seemed disrupted by Jack Eichel's attempt to deflect it.

Tage Thompson kept it going, giving the Americans a 4-0 lead at 18:05 of the third period off a feed from Dylan Larkin, who got the puck from Jake Sanderson, and Thompson ripped a one-timer from inside the blue line, scoring blocker side. At 13:14, Matthews recorded his third point of the game and scored his second goal (third of the tournament) to push it to 5-0. Sanderson took a pass from Noah Hanifin before dropping a backdoor pass to Matthews, who got to the front of the net and deflected the pass up and off the crossbar before knocking the rebound in after it had landed behind Franzreb. Ending Connor Hellebuyck's shutout bid with 8:38 to go in the third, Tim Stutzle took a pass from JJ Peterka, then struck from the left circle, shooting over the netminder's glove for the 5-1 final.

Notes:

- Connor Hellebuyck made a total of 23 saves for the U.S. ...Hellebuyck became the fourth American goalie to earn multiple wins at an Olympic tournament with NHL players, joining Ryan Miller (5 in 2010), Jonathan Quick (3 in 2014), and Mike Richter (2 in 2002).

- Auston Matthews became the fifth American with multiple power-play goals in an Olympic tournament with NHL players, joining Brian Gionta (3 in 2006), Brian Rolston (3 in 2006), Zach Parise (2 in 2010), and John LeClair (2 in 2002).

- Both Matthew Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson collected a pair of assists. ...Tkachuk (0-2--2) assisted on Brock Faber’s goal and tied Brett Hull (5 in 2002) and Brian Leetch (5 in 2002) for the third-most assists by a U.S. player at an NHL-participating Olympics, behind James van Riemsdyk (6 in 2014) and Mike Modano (6 in 2002).

- Zach Werenski scored his first Olympic goal. He led all skaters in assists and points at the 4 Nations Face-Off and became the first defenseman in NHL International Tournament history (Canada Cup, World Cup of Hockey, 4 Nations Face-Off) to lead all players outright in points. Bobby Orr and Denis Potvin previously tied for the lead at the 1976 Canada Cup.

- Quinn Hughes (0-1--1) recorded his fourth career Olympic assist in Milan, tying Brian Rafalski (2010), Ryan Suter (2010), and Phil Housley (2002) for the second-most by a U.S. defenseman in an Olympic tournament with NHL players, behind Brian Leetch (5 in 2002). ...Hughes also tied the longest assist streak by an American at an NHL-participating Olympics (3 GP). The only other defensemen to do so are Rafalski (2010), Suter (2010), and Leetch (2002).

- Maximilian Franzreb made a total of 32 saves for Germany.

- Tim Stützle became the first German player to score four goals in a single Olympic tournament with NHL players. ...Stützle (4 in 3 GP) also tied Jan Benda (4 in 11 GP) for the most career Olympic goals by a German player with NHL participation.

- This was the second all-time Olympic meeting between Team USA and Team Germany with NHL players. The first came in the 2002 quarterfinals, when the U.S. won 5-0.

- Canada also went 3-0-0-0 in Group A, earning the top seed with a plus-17 goal differential, while Team USA finished the preliminary round at plus-11.