Team USA men's and women's hockey players took to the ice today at their respective venues and won.This is the youngest USA men's hockey team to take the ice since the 1998 Nagano squad. Unlike the women, they are also playing in the same group with Team Canada.
They got their Olympic tournament off to a promising start with a 3-1 victory over Switzerland at Canada Hockey Place.
Goaltender Ryan Miller faced on 14 Swiss shots as Team USA tallied goals by Bobby Ryan, David Backes and Ryan Malone. Switzerland avoided the shutout by scoring a power play goal at 9:45 of the third period.
Their toughest competition, the Russians and homestanding Canadians also won their opening round games with Russia beating Latvia 8-2 and the Canadians rolling to an 8-0 victory over Norway in front of a flag waving sellout crowd after being held to a scoreless first period.
The USA men's team will face a critical game on Thursday with Norway.
Meanwhile over at the UBC Thunderbird Arena, the Team USA women continued their domination of Group B with a US record setting victory over Russia. Team USA tallied a record seven power play goals and Jenny Potter scored her second hat trick of this Olympic tournament enroute to the 13-0 win.
The Team USA women have scored 25 goals in their initial two games while surrendering only one. The win clinched their spot in the February 20-22 crossover round, and they will play Finland Thursday to decide the winner of Group B.
