U.S. Men's Hockey Ousted From 2022 Olympics

The U.S. men's hockey team lost only one game at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. Unfortunately, that loss came in an elimination game.

Slovakia notched the tying goal in the final minute of regulation, and after a scoreless 10-minute overtime tallied the only goal of the ensuing shootout to eliminate the Americans by a 3-2 count last night. Slovakia moves on to the semifinal round, while the U.S. has still not medaled in Olympic men's hockey since 2010, when it earned silver in Vancouver.

Nick Abruzzese (Harvard) and Sam Hentges (St. Cloud State) staked Team USA to a 2-1 lead after two periods against Slovakia, but it wasn't enough as the Americans went 0-for-5 on the power play, including a two-man advantage. The U.S then went 0-for-5 in shootout attempts to seal its fate. 

Strauss Mann (Michigan) finished with 34 saves in net for the U.S., which had won all three of its games in round-robin pool play to advance to the quarterfinals.

The U.S women will play rival Canada for the gold medal on Wednesday night (11 p.m. ET, NBC TV, TSN Direct).

Minnesota, North Dakota Win Conference Titles

 

Two games, two offensive explosions in roughly two minutes each, and two tournament championships won on Tuesday night.

Minnesota defeated Wisconsin, 6-4, for the Big Ten title in South Bend, Ind., as the Golden Gophers broke open a 2-1 game with three unanswered goals in a span of 2:42 late in the second period. After Wisconsin closed to within 5-4 with three third-period goals, including Cole Caufield's nation-leading 28th score of the season to bring the Badgers within one, fourth-ranked Minnesota (23-6-0 overall) sealed the deal on an empty-net goal by Blake McLaughlin with 24 seconds remaining in regulation. McLaughlin led all skaters with two goals and two assists on the evening, while Roman Ahcan scored twice for No. 5 Wisconsin (20-9-1).

In Grand Forks, N.D., host North Dakota claimed its first-ever NCHC playoff championship by outlasting St. Cloud State, 5-3. After SCSU (17-10-0) took a 2-1 lead into the locker rooms after 40 minutes of play, the Fighting Hawks notched three goals in just 1:58 to start the third period en route to the victory. Riese Gaber's power-play goal just over five minutes into the final frame stood up as the game-winner, before Jordan Kawaguchi iced matters with his empty-net tally with nine seconds left. Gaber and Kawaguchi finished with two goals and an assist apiece for No. 2 UND (21-5-1), while Ondřej Trejbal set up two goals for the Huskies, including Sam Hentges' score that pulled No. 8 SCSU within 4-3 with just under 13 minutes left.

Both Minnesota and North Dakota, former rivals in the old WCHA, earned their respective current conference's automatic berth to this year's NCAA tournament. The NCAA selection show and the 2021 bracket will be revealed on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

Princeton Begins New Season with Win and Tie at SCSU

Princeton University opened its 2019-20 men's hockey campaign by continuing its recent success against St. Cloud State University.

The Tigers skated to a 5-3 win and a 5-5 tie with the host Huskies in Minnesota over the weekend of Nov. 1-2. The two schools had played to pair of ties in central New Jersey in Dec. 2017, when St. Cloud was ranked as the top Division I team in the country.

Junior goaltender Ryan Ferland backstopped the Tigers to a season-opening victory on Friday, making 31 saves, while sophomore forward Corey Andonovski scored Princeton's first goal of the season and added an assist. Senior forward Jackson Cressey also had a goal and an assist for the visitors.

On Saturday, Andonovski tallied his first career collegiate hat trick, including the game-tying goal in the third period, while freshman netminder Aidan Porter made 25 saves for the Tigers in his NCAA debut. Cressey scored one goal, and set up three others, to finish with six points in two outings. Sophomore forward Sam Hentges led 16th-ranked St. Cloud (1-2-3 overall) with two goals and three assists on the weekend, while junior goalie Dávid Hrenák finished with a total of 37 saves over the two contests for the Huskies.

Princeton (1-0-1) opens ECAC Hockey play at Harvard and Dartmouth on Nov. 8-9, while SCSU will play a non-conference series at Northern Michigan.