KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA
The true appellation of Apu.
USA on a roll with Swiss shut-out
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10/02/2014
The USA made it two wins out of two in the women’s ice hockey tournament, comfortably overcoming Switzerland with a 9-0 win in the Shayba Arena
A five-goal salvo in the first period saw the Vancouver 2010 runners-up rack up a comfortable early advantage, four more strikes completing the rout as they outshot the Swiss by 53-10.
Amanda Kessel was the star of the show, her two goals and two assists providing some lethal cutting edge in a completely dominant performance.
Monique Lamoureux set the USA on their way in the tenth minute – beginning a remarkable 55-second spell in which Brianna Decker and Kessel quickly added to their tally.
It was a history-making triple blast – the fastest three-goal sequence ever seen at the Olympic Winter Games.
Hilary Knight and Kessel, again, put the USA five up before 16 minutes had elapsed, although the Swiss recovered to limit them to another Lamoureux goal in the second period.
Two swift goals by Kendall Coyne quickened the pace at the start of the third, with Alex Carpenter completing the scoring in the final five minutes.
Kessel would have recorded a hat-trick if her third strike of the game had counted – but play was pulled back following a video review of a Coyne goal that had initially been missed by the officials.
“It was pretty weird, but I saw Kendall's goal go in,” she admitted. "It was her first one of the tournament, so I was happy for my linemate.”
Meanwhile, Swiss forward Jessica Lutz was philosophical in defeat. “We know we're going to get lots of shots and goals against us, but we'll tell each other let's just keep going no matter what the score is,” she said.
“They got five goals early on, but after that we stuck with it. They didn't have goals for a while. That's success for us.”
The Swiss face Finland in their next outing on Wednesday afternoon; the table-topping USA face a clash of the favourites against Canada.
Holders stay on track with Finland win
Olympic champions Canada stayed on course for a successful title defence with a 3-0 win over Finland on Monday afternoon – but were forced to leave it late.
Victory looked far from certain against a gutsy Finnish side as the match entered its final third, but three goals in seven minutes brought up two wins in as many games for the favourites.
Victory looked far from certain against a gutsy Finnish side as the match entered its final third, but three goals in seven minutes brought up two wins in as many games for the favourites.
Despite being outshot by 42-14, Finland gave the Canadians some scares early on, with goalkeeper Shannon Szabados forced into some important saves.
Her opposite number, Noora Raty, was in outstanding form throughout before finally being beaten nine minutes into the third period.
A vicious shot on a power play from Meghan Agosta-Marciano broke the deadlock, with Jayna Hefford and Rebecca Johnston adding gloss to the scoreline.
Szabados explained that patience was key to Canada’s eventual success. “We expected it to be a great game and a close game," she said. "I think that was the key to it: We didn't get frustrated.”
After coming close to a famous shut-out, Raty sensed relief in her highly-fancied opponents.
“I've never seen them celebrate as much as they celebrated that first goal,” she said. “That showed they were probably getting frustrated. We have never beaten Canada in our history, but this showed we are maybe closing the gap.”
