While Seth Jarvis didn't take the ice for Canada this morning, the afternoon slate allowed the remainder of the team's Olympians to get their first cracks. Unfortunately, the games were scheduled at the same time. Jaccob Slavin and the United States opened their tournament against Latvia, while Nikolaj Ehlers and Frederik Andersen tried to lead Denmark to an upset win over Germany.
Denmark was in an immediate hole, and they couldn't climb out
Before the game began, it was understood that Denmark's best chance to win would be if they found a way to shut down Leon Draisaitl and Tim Stutzle, Germany's two greatest weapons. Just 23 seconds into the game, that plan went right out the window. Draisaitl immediately put the Germans in front against Frederik Andersen.
His Hurricanes teammate picked him up later in the period. Nikolaj Ehlers set up in the corner and found a streaking Oscar Fisker Molgaard, who slid it under Philipp Grubauer's pad to tie it up. Ehlers became the first Hurricane to find the scoresheet at the Olympics this time around. Ehlers was one of five Danes to play over 20 minutes today, finishing with this assist and three shots on the net.
The second period decided it all, and it was Stutzle's turn to do damage. He scored twice during the middle frame, including a power-play goal with Draisaitl's help. This would be more than enough to do the job. Andersen stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced, and the Danes outshot Germany 38-26 in the game, but they couldn't get anything in the net in a 3-1 loss.
In typical Slavin fashion, his Olympic debut wasn't very flashy
To their credit, the Latvians stuck around a lot longer than they probably should have. If not for two successful challenges and two posts hit, the United States could've been up by a lot in the first period. Instead, the game was 1-1 after 20 minutes. Eventually, the Americans pulled away in the second period, en route to a 5-1 victory. For Jaccob Slavin, there wasn't a ton to talk about.
Slavin was on the ice for the lone Latvia goal, though he hardly deserves any of the blame for it. He did a good job of making sure the initial chance didn't get to the front of the net. When the puck finally made its way there, Slavin tied up his man, but the bouncing puck ended up behind Connor Hellebuyck. Otherwise, it was a pretty Slavin-like game for the Canes' defenseman.
He didn't play a ton, skating for just 15:03 in the game, the second-lowest total for the team's seven defensemen. However, Slavin was on the top unit of the penalty kill, which was a perfect 3-for-3. He came up with a good block in the right dot in the third period, selling out even in a lopsided game. It was a good way for him to dip his toes into the Winter Games.
Playing in the same group, the Americans and the Danes are on a collision course to meet. They'll have their chance to clash on Saturday afternoon, playing in the first half of a weekend back-to-back. If the Americans win, it'll likely lead to a group-deciding match with Germany on Sunday, while Denmark will try to stay out of the basement in Group C against Latvia.