Olympic Wings – Day 6

Do you believe in the improbable?

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There’s some this morning that are attempting to call the United States’ win over Canada last night “Miracle on Ice II”. Despite it being a totally unlikely outcome, I think the MOI moniker might be a bit much for this one. Sure, Canada is loaded with scoring talent and would probably win a best of seven series against this American team, but I wouldn’t go so far as to slap the “miracle” label on this one. I think the better fit is the phrase that emerged when the University of Michigan basketball team won the 1989 NCAA tournament: Shock the World.

There’s absolutely no doubt that the US did just that it beating the heavily favored Canadian squad in one of the most entertaining games I’ve seen in a long time. Canada threw the kitchen sink at the US late in the game, but Ryan Miller stood on his freaking head and Ryan Kesler scored one of the most impressive empty net goals I’ve ever seen to preserve a remarkable win for a team who many thought didn’t have what it would take to tame the superstar laden Canadian squad. Around these parts, though, the man of the hour is Brian Rafalski, who has now scored as many goals in four periods as he has scored for the Wings this entire season. Good on him and good on the other veteran Americans who elevated their games yesterday and gave the rest of the World something to think about as we move into the medal rounds.

Is the US good enough to win this thing? Sure. Will they? I’m not sold yet. On paper, their path is by far the easiest of any of the teams, but in “one-and-done” hockey, you can throw that right out the window. It’ll be an entertaining ride to the medal podium, that’s for sure.

At any rate, here’s how the numbers shook out for Motown’s finest yesterday:

Russia

• Pavel Datsyuk – 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS, 2 SOG, +1, TOI – 20:18

Overshadowed by the performance of Brian Rafalski yesterday is the solid effort that Datsyuk put together in the Russians 4-2 win over the Czech Republic. Dangle Dangle tallied an assist and an empty net goal, turning in his best performance of the Olympic games so far.

United States

• Brian Rafalski – 2 G, 1 A, 3 PTS, 3 SOG, +2, TOI – 21:27

Rafalski continued to ignite the American offense, netting 2 goals in the first period and assisting on the eventual game winner. For a guy who’s offensive numbers have struggled in Detroit this year, one can only hope this production carries over when the Olympics come to a close and the playoff push takes center stage.

Sweden

• Henrik Zetterberg – 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS, 1 SOG, Even, TOI – 20:10
• Johan Franzen – 0 G, 1 A, 1 PT, 5 SOG, Even, TOI – 16:34
• Nicklas Lidstrom – 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS, 2 SOG, Even, TOI – 22:34
• Niklas Kronwall – 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS, 0 SOG, +1, TOI – 22:15

No goals for the Mule in this one, but he did pick up an assist. Zetterberg continues to struggle in the tournament, despite increased  ice time. Despite the game against Finland being rather boring, it was entertaining to hear the announcers note that one of Sweden’s PK units was made up of the four guys you see listed above.

Finland

• Valtteri Filppula – 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS, 1 SOG, Even, TOI – 17:07

No surprise here, as Finland struggled to find offense against the Swedes all night long. Flip looked OK, playing hard but not generating many goal scoring opportunities.

Leaderboard (Thru 2/21)

Tags: Brian Rafalski, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Pavel Datsyuk, Ryan Kesler, Ryan Miller, Valtteri Filppula