Day two of the men’s Olympic hockey tournament has started and with it has brought the appearance of all seven Pittsburgh Penguins Olympians.
Team Finland kicked things off with an 8-4 victory. Both Jussi Jokinen and Olli Maatta did their part to contribute to the victory.
Jussi Jokinen had a goal and an assist while playing 16:36.
There was a Maattabomb sighting in Sochi as the rookie sensation lit the lamp in his first ever Olympic appearance. Here is the visual proof of the Maatta goal:
Olli Maatta played 13:56 that ranked 5th out of Finland’s 7 defensemen.
Both Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik enjoyed taking part in the USA’s huge 7-1 win over Slovakia.
Martin found himself playing huge minutes, mostly alongside Team USA’s best defender Ryan Suter. In fact Paul Martin was tied with Ryan Suter for most ice time by any USA player (19:46).
Paul Martin played a very solid game and made the simple plays that Pittsburgh Penguins fans have grown accustomed to for the past few seasons.
Brooks Orpik was Team USA’s 7th defensemen for the game against Slovakia. He played the fewest minutes out of any defensemen with 10:51. When the game was tight Orpik did not receive much ice time at all. He only played 1:46 in the first period. Once the Americans got on a roll Orpik saw his ice total climb. He played 4:17 in the 2nd period and 4:48 in the 3rd period. It looks very likely that Orpik will see a majority of his ice time on USA’s 2nd penalty killing unit moving forward.
Dan Bylsma deserves some credit for how he has put his forward lines together. The forwards were flying today and relentless on the forecheck. Bylsma’s forward group is not one that lacks speed that much is certain. Its only one game but the Bylsma led Team USA looked fantastic in game 1.
Coach Bylsma: "I like how our team played that game & earning the victory. Good start for our team" -SK
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) February 13, 2014#TeamUSA looks good after 2 periods! Had no idea 20 of the 25 players on the roster played @NCAAIceHockey! Impressive stat!
— Derek Whitmore (@dwhitmore21) February 13, 2014I had a poll yesterday that asked which Penguins Olympian would be most important to their team’s success. Here are the results:
The overwhelming choice (my choice as well) was Evgeni Malkin. Malkin did nothing to dispel that notion today. Russia played a very close game for most of the night with a Slovenian team that does not have even close to the talent that Russia does. Malkin finished with 1 goal and 2 assists with 5 shots in Russia’s 5-2 victory. Malkin played 17:10 and only Alexander Ovechkin had more ice time than him at the forward position (17:24).
Puzzling is the decision to keep Evgeni Malkin off of Russia’s #1 power play unit. That one is a head scratcher to me.
The Russians may have their shortcomings in other areas on the roster but the Malkin, Ovechkin, and Semin line is going to be a force all tournament long.
Geno Machino was in full effect on the world stage today.
Rounding out the action for Penguins players were Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz. The Canadians first game had them up against Norway.
Crosby, Kunitz, and the rest of Team Canada had a ho hum first period which saw the action remain scoreless. Crosby did set up Alex Pietranagelo with a quality scoring chance from behind the net early on, but not much else. Crosby and Kunitz saw ice time on the Canadians 1st power play, but it was an underwhelming effort.
The 2nd period saw some glimpse of the Crosby show about to take over. Crosby found more time and space as the game progressed and it led to noticeable scoring chances for Canada. Crosby won puck battles in the corners and on one sequence was only a tipped backhand pass away from a slam dunk Chris Kunitz goal on the back door.
I can’t help but think how awesome Martin St. Louis would look as Crosby’s right winger because the Carter experiment is not off to a great start.
The 3rd period looked a lot like the 1st period for the Crosby Kunitz duo. Not much happening for them at even strength. My guess is you will see some changes to the Crosby line.
Crosby finished with 2 shots and 15:41 of ice time.
Kunitz had 2 shots, 2 PIM, and 14:39 of ice time.
Penguins players were 4-0 on the day. That is your update for today.
Thanks for reading!