Three of the Flyers' five Olympians were in an action in day two of preliminary round competition in Sochi. Here is a synopsis of how the players and their teams fared:
FINLAND 8 - AUSTRIA 4
Team Finland has often seemed to play better over the years when they are in the role of the scrappy underdog than as the favorite. In today's game against Austria, the Finns got off to a terrible start -- quickly trailing 1-0 and 2-1 -- and were guilty at times of losing focus in the latter stages as well. Ultimately, however, the mismatch in team depth and the weakness of Austria's team defense produced an 8-4 romp for the Finns.
Jarkko Immonen and Mikael Granlund tallied two goals apiece for the Finns, who also got single tallies from forwards Jussi Jokinen and Petri Kontiola as well as defensemen Olli Määttä and Sami Lepistö. For Austria, Michael Grabner notched a hat trick and Thomas Hundertpfund briefly put his team ahead, 2-1, in the first period.
With the Austrian team, it is painfully evident that there are just a few players -- all of whom either play in the NHL or at least have significant experience in leagues that are superior to the Austrian-based Erste Bank Liga -- who can play competitively at the major international level.
Along with linemate Michael Grabner (hat trick), Flyers forward
Michael Raffl was one of the few bright spots for the Austrians. In the opening minute of the game, Raffl set up Grabner's first goal through strong work behind the net. Raffl collected a Finnish turnover and made a nice centering feed to Grabner as the Islanders' forward stepped out from behind the net into the right slot.
Later, Raffl made the first pass on a nice sequence that led to Grabner's second goal. The tally early in the third period cut the Finns' lead to 6-3. Grabner completed the hat trick in the final five minutes of the game.
Raffl finished the game with a pair of assists and an even plus-minus in 15:45 of ice time. Playing center (as he did in one game for the Flyers this season), he also was in the unfamiliar role of taking faceoffs; winning five of 16.
Flyers defenseman
Kimmo Timonen had a relatively easy day, as the Finns controlled the puck most of the game -- outshooting the Austrians by a 52-20 margin. With a big lead, the ice time was spread around. Timonen earned a late-game assist on a power play goal by Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund. Earlier in the game, he contributed to a sequence that led to a Petri Kontiola goal but did not pick up an assist on the play.
Timonen finished the day with 17:31 of ice time, three shots on goal, a plus-one rating and an assist. He was paired with young Anaheim Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen.
Austrian goaltender Bernhard Starkbaum (a player in whom the Flyers reportedly had mild interest last summer at about the time they signed Raffl) was average in net. He had little to no help on most of the eight goals he allowed on 52 shots, but also did himself no favors with shaky rebound control.
Boston netminder Tuukka Rask wasn't really tested much apart from the massive breakdowns that led to Finnish goals. The first two goals in particular were unstoppable.
Future Hall of Famer Teemu Selänne left the game after the first period with an upper body injury. With his team already leading by a 4-2 margin and the game being the Finns' first of the preliminary round, it may have been precautionary.
Some other items of note for Philly fans: former Flyers defensemen Lasse Kukkonen (10:41 TOI, plus-one, one shot on goal) and Ossi Väänänen (11:37, plus-one) have remained fixtures on the Finnish national team after leaving the NHL. They are paired as a depth/penalty killing unit for the Finns.
Thomas Raffl, the older brother of Philly's Michael, skates on the third forward line for the Austrians. Formerly with Elitserien (now Swedish Hockey League) team Luleå HF, the older Raffl brother took a late-game penalty that led to Granlund's power play goal that rounded out the scoring in the game. Thomas played on a line with former Flyers forward Andreas Nödl (12:48 TOI, 1 shot).
USA 7 - SLOVAKIA 1
A six-goal barrage by Team USA turned their opening game match with Slovakia into a laugher. While the Slovak team has its share of question marks, it is still a squad that beat the U.S. four years ago and came close to upsetting Canada for a gold-medal game spot. Back in 2006, the Slovaks were undefeated heading into the medal round.
On this day, however, the Slovaks simply could not cope with the Americans' team speed and forechecking pressure. All four Team USA lines got onto the score sheet.
The first period was rather cautious on both sides, especially in the first 10 minutes. A John Carlson goal at 14:27 stood as the only tally of the first period period. The Slovakian squad briefly tied the game at 1-1 in the opening minute of the second period as Tomas Tatar made the Americans pay for a Ryan Suter turnover.
Thereafter, the Slovaks ran straight into the business end of an American buzzsaw. Ryan Kesler, Paul Stastny, David Backes, Stastny (again), Phil Kessel and Dustin Brown lit up the scoreboard with even strength goals.
Starting Slovakian goaltender Jaroslav Halak (20 saves) was replaced by Peter Budaj (six saves) after the second Stastny goal. Team USA netminder Jonathan Quick (22 saves) was not tested very often.
Team USA shut down the engines a bit as the two sides played out the scoreless third period. Each team managed six shots in the final stanza.
Flyers defenseman
Andrej Meszaros largely escaped the carnage. In 13:56 of ice time, Meszaros made a couple forays deep in the U.S. end and was not out for any of the U.S. goals although he did have a rough shift or two among the 22 he skated.
Former Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk chipped in three assists for the winning Americna side. Another ex-Flyer, Branko Radivojevic, had one shot on goal in 16:45.
TOMORROW'S GAMES
Czech Republic
(Jakub Voracek) vs. Latvia: 3:00 a.m. (MSNBC)
Sweden vs. Switzerland (
Mark Streit): 7:30 a.m. (NBCSN)
Canada vs. Austria (Raffl): Noon (USA)
Finland (Timonen) vs. Norway: Noon (MSNBC)
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