Team USA faces Finland today at 12:00pm PST. Of the four teams left, one squad will leave Vancouver without a medal around its neck. At 6:30pm PST Canada and Slovakia take the stage when the ice is apparently in its crappiest state. I have zero sympathy; these are (almost) all NHL players left in the tournament. They can handle a little bad ice.
Overall for the US, Zach Parise has been the offensive standout when the team actually scores. In their last game against the Swiss, only two goals were scored, one of which was an empty netter. So I’m not expecting a huge blowout like Russia saw against Canada. That was a glorious game for the Canadians and a huge slap in the face for the Russians. Today the Americans are not facing a weaker goalie (by much). I’m actually much more confident facing Miikka Kiprusoff than I was with Jonas Hiller in the last game. Is it because the Kings see more of the Anaheim Ducks than the Calgary Flames? All I know is I’ve definitely seen more Kiprusoff meltdowns than Hiller meltdowns.
Here are two charts laying out how the Kings are doing thus far! Obviously Jonathan Quick hasn’t seen a sniff of play, but neither has Tim Thomas so I’m not crying here.
Los Angeles Kings: Skaters
| Player | CTY | GP | Goals | Assists | Points | +/- | SOG | PIM’s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dustin Brown | USA | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 7 | 0 |
| Jack Johnson | USA | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 2 | 2 |
| Drew Doughty | CAN | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +4 | 4 | 0 |
| Michal Handzus | SVK | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -1 | 7 | 0 |
| Total | – | 18 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +4 |
20 | 2 |
Los Angeles Kings: Goaltenders
| Player | CTY | WIN | LOSS | MIN | GA | SV | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Quick | USA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Lastly, the US team is 6-3-2 all time against the Finnish team.