In overtime, the two teams traded chances, without many of them materializing into anything high-danger. That is, until Minnesota Wild defenceman Quinn Hughes took advantage of some space on the ice and wired home the overtime winner at 3-on-3. Matthews picked up an assist on the play, bringing him to six points in four games to lead the United States in scoring at the tournament thus far.
A combination of recent preliminary round results, key tiebreaker scenarios, and the remaining schedule is creating a very real possibility of an early Olympic showdown between hockey powers, one that could see Toronto Maple Leafs stars Auston Matthews and William Nylander face off sooner than expected. Matthews' Team USA's closer-than-expected 6-3 victory over Denmark in Group C Olympic action on Saturday, combined with Team Sweden and Nylander's position in the Group B bracket, is setting up a potential intriguing game between Leafs' teammates.
The game was somewhat reminiscent to Sweden's 5-2 win over Italy earlier in the week, with the States dominating on the shot clock but suffering from some less than stellar goaltending to keep the game tight headed into the final frame. The Danes pushed the States to the point where they trailed 4-3 going into the third period, but the States kept the pressure up and eventually scored two goals to ice the game and take the 6-3 victory.
It looks good from the outside, and it looks good from the inside. There have been a lot of teams practicing today, so it was chewed up pretty good, but the ice felt pretty good. It is never going to be perfect circumstances. The ice isn't great in Toronto, either. You kind of live with it. I am sure it will get better and better throughout the tournament.
Throughout his tenure as captain, he seems more frustrated than excited and his personality has suffered. When was the last time we saw Matthews smile? If you do a google search of "Auston Matthews Smiling," the last time you'll see him smile was during the press conference where he was named captain, then after that it's been nothing but serious.
"You guys know Auston, I don't know how long he's been here [in Toronto] now, but [it feels like] he's been here literally the whole time with me," Lowry said prior to Sunday's game. "I respect the hell out of Auston, and we have a mutual relationship." "You know I had to pay the tribute to my city," Lowry said. "I'm a Maple Leafs guy, and Auston, that's a great jersey. I appreciate him and I wanted to show support for the city."
I just thought we played a good team game, all four lines. We played hard, played physical. Our forecheck was really good tonight, goaltending was great. Those are the kind of efforts we need on nights like this against tough opponents like this. You know, when you're missing lots of guys you need everyone to chip in a little bit more.
