With one Hurricane already in the Gold Medal Game after an exciting start to the day, Jaccob Slavin looked to join his teammate in playing for the big prize when the United States battled Slovakia for the honor. Slovakia had been the darlings of the dance to this point, stunning everyone by winning their group and smacking Germany in the quarterfinals.
For the Americans, it was business as usual. They swept through their group with relative ease, but Sweden gave them a ton to handle on Wednesday. Their win required overtime, ending when Quinn Hughes uncorcked a wrister off the post and into the net to get the job done. They knew they had a tough test against them on Friday, and they made it look borderline effortless.
Dylan Larkin set the tone in the first period with an early goal, and it would be all United States from there over the next 56 minutes. They scored twice in the opening frame and three more times in the second to put themselves well ahead of the Slovakian group. Slovakia fought until the very end, scoring twice in the third, but the United States rolled into the Gold Medal Game with a 6-2 win.
The effort was led by the brothers on the team. Jack Hughes scored twice. Quinn Hughes added another assist. Brady Tkachuk had a goal and a helper. Matthew Tkachuk had an assist, too. The Tkachuks also got into a bit of a skirmish at the end of the game. Elsewhere, Zach Werenski had three assists, and Tage Thompson and Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist each.
As for Jaccob Slavin, he didn't find the scoresheet, but he was on the ice for a pair of goals, finishing as a +2. He played 16:19 in the game, including a team-high 6:42 in the third period. It felt like it was hard to get him on the ice during the middle frame, with all of the penalties that Slovakia took. Still, Slavin found a way to contribute, especially on the penalty kill.
The victory for the United States sets up exactly what we were all hoping for. As we anticipated, it'll be the Americans and the Canadians battling for world supremacy once more. The 4 Nations Face-Off last February was merely an appetizer to prepare us for the epicness that is about to come, albeit without the fisticuffs. I speak for everyone when I say that I am hyped for Sunday morning.