The USA hockey took another step in their quest for Olympic gold with a 2-0 shutout victory over Switzerland. This sets up the Americans to face Finland in the Semifinals who also scored a 2-0 shutout win of their own over the Czech republic…
The game was scoreless through two periods.Team USA finally broke through early in the third period when Zach Parise scored on a deflected wrist shot from Brain Rafalski to break the scoreless tie. That goal held up ,and Parise added a empty net goal to finish off the scoring. The Americans peppered the Swiss net all game long, and if it was not for Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller coming up big with save after save the Americans would have had a easier time in pulling off the victory. Hiller made 42 saves and kept his team into the game right till the end. Team USA can be proud of their constant offensive pressure and can carry that to the Semis. Ryan Miller played well in net again and finished with 19 saves in the shutout victory.
Ryan Miller was solid in net again with his shutout win over the Swiss.
Team USA played well but will have to play even better against Finland. If they can consistently put pressure on the goalie and in turn get great goaltending from their goalie Ryan Miller they have a good shot to advance to the finals. The finals could well be a rematch against Team Canada who dismantled the Russians 7-3 ,and the score was not even that close. Canada will take on Slovakia in the Semifinals. The Americans need to concentrate on Finland first before trying to pull off another monumental upset over Canada if that is where the cards lie. This is the 30 year anniversary of the 1980 miracle on ice team. Do you believe in Miracles?
Tags: Brian Rafalski, Czech Republic, Finland, Jonas Hiller, Russia, Ryan Miller, Slovakia, Switzerland, Team Canada, Team USA, Zach Parise
