Gangneung: The 2018 United States Olympic men’s hockey team will be remembered as a squad with heart but little finishing skill, and so their tournament came to a fitting close on Wednesday. They forced overtime despite being outplayed all game, and they survived overtime despite playing 10 minutes of four-on-four hockey in their second game in two days.
Forced into a shoot-out, the Americans’ fatal flaw surfaced. All five shooters failed to convert, and despite four saves from goalie Ryan Zapolski, the Czech Republic eliminated the ragtag Americans in the quarter finals, 3-2.
Their tournament ended one round shy of a semi-final rematch with the Olympic Athletes from Russia, the game they wanted most of all.
The US faltered utterly in the shoot-out against Czech goalie Pavel Francouz, and Petr Koukal scored the only goal the Czechs needed. Chris Bourque went first for the Americans and, after a series of dekes, he buried a shot in the blocker. Ryan Donato, who led the US with five goals in the tournament, including the first Wednesday, fooled Francouz but couldn’t stuff the puck inside the right post. Mark Arcobello shot a wrister from close range into Francouz’s pads. Troy Terry couldn’t slip a backhand past. When Bobby Butler’s final shot was denied, the Czechs exulted, their one goal enough.
Playing four-on-four in overtime on large Olympic ice in their second game in two days, the US flagged late. But Zapolski blocked every shot that came his way, and the US even generated one final chance. With 40 seconds left in overtime, Bobby Sanguinetti blasted a shot that trickled under Francouz after the goalie made the original stop, but the netminder fell on the puck before it could slip past the line.
