USA advances to the Gold Medal Game with 7-1 win over Slovakia
BASEL, Switzerland – There’s no margin for error when you’re playing against this buzzsaw of an American team. They’re too structured, too skilled, and too potent to get away with that.
It’s the reason that even their close games in this tournament have looked like blowouts from afar. You can play them to a draw for an entire period on the balance, but one big mistake and you’re fishing the puck out from the back of your net.
You make three big ones in the first period? Well, there’s no coming back from that.
“The first period didn’t go as we planned. We gave up three goals in the first period,” Slovak centre Roman Kukumberg said after the game. “That’s never a good start.”
A bad read in space, and there’s Will Smith exploding up t
