By Amy Tennery
MILAN, Feb 15 (Reuters) – The United States beat Germany 5-1 but came up short of earning the top seeding from the preliminary stage of the men’s Winter Olympic ice hockey tournament on Sunday, as they finished second-best to Canada heading into the knockout stages.
Captain Auston Matthews scored twice, while Zach Werenski, Brock Faber and Tage Thompson added goals to top Group C and automatically advance to the quarter-finals. But they missed out on the coveted top seeding on goal difference after Canada’s 10-2 thrashing of France earlier on Sunday.
“We just wanted to win so we could win the group. That was the only thing,” U.S. forward Matthew Tkachuk told reporters. “We never talked once about the top seed at all. All that handles itself. You’re going to play everybody if you want to win your ultimate goal.
“Our goal coming in was to go 3-0 in group play, check that box, and move on. Don’t have to play in the play-ins and stuff. So we accomplished that, and we got a lot more to accomplish now.”
German goalie Maximilian Franzreb turned away 14 shots before defenceman Werenski ended the U.S. frustration, sending in a wrist shot with less than 10 seconds left before the first intermission off an assist from Matthews.
Fresh off the penalty kill, the U.S. doubled their lead as Matthews slipped a rebound through the legs of Franzreb on a power play early in the second period.
Defenceman Faber sent a slap shot in off an assist from each of the Tkachuk brothers, Brady and Matthew, putting the Americans up 3-0 heading into the second break.
The Americans never took their foot off the gas, as the towering Thompson rifled in a slap shot two minutes into the third and Matthews tapped in his second goal. The overwhelmingly pro-German crowd, which included retired tennis champion Boris Becker, got a bit of consolation when alternate captain Tim Stutzle got a score on the board.
“Tonight was some tough competition,” U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said.
“I thought we competed hard tonight, but, once again, as this tournament starts to move forward, the stakes get higher, the competition gets stiffer, and I think our guys are excited for that challenge.”
Canada and the United States are joined in the quarter-finals by surprise Group B winners Slovakia and the next-best overall team, Finland. The remaining teams, including perennial contenders Sweden, compete in a single-elimination qualification playoff beginning on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery, Janina Nuno Rios and Giulio Piovaccari in Milan; editing by Clare Fallon and Toby Davis)
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