Wednesday's Three Stars: Lundqvist blanks Germany; Jagr shines
No. 1 Star: Henrik Lundqvist(notes), Sweden
Faced with a pesky German team in their first game of the tournament, Lundqvist stood his ground in net stopping 21 shots, including 11 in the third period as Sweden blanked Germany 2-0. During a 5-on-3 penalty kill early in the second period, Lundqvist received help from a goaltenders best friend, the goal post, after Christian Ehrhoff's(notes) blast hit the iron, which would have opened the scoring. Minutes later, with Sweden on the power play, Matthias Ohlund scored from the point after German goaltender Thomas Greiss(notes) was screened in front by Daniel Sedin(notes). Sweden next plays on Friday against Belarus.
No. 2 Star: Jaromir Jagr(notes), Czech Republic
There was much anticipation to see Jagr's return to North American ice and he didn't disappoint. The 38-year old forward scored what would end up being the game-winning goal for the Czech Republic in their 3-1 victory over Slovakia. Moments after Marian Hossa's(notes) shot rang off the goal post, Jagr's backchecking forced the Slovakian forward to turn the puck over in the neutral zone allowing Roman Cervenka to send him on a semi-breakaway and break the 1-1 deadlock. Minutes later, Jagr's work down low allowed Tomas Plekanec(notes) to stuff home a puck past Jaroslav Halak(notes) and extend the Czech's lead to 3-1 with two seconds remaining in the second period. Off to a good start, the Czech Republic takes on Latvia on Friday night in their second game.
No. 3 Star: Niklas Hagman(notes), Finland
After Sergei Kostitsyn's(notes) goal 21 seconds into the second period cut Finland's cut to one, Belarus was thinking they might be able to hang with the 2006 silver medalists. Then Hagman's pretty goal, his second of the game, with three minutes to go put the momentum back with the Finns. The hammer was dropped 23 seconds into the final period when Valtteri Filppula(notes) scored to give Finland a commanding 4-1 lead, ending any hope of a Belarus comeback. The Finns faceoff with Germany on Friday before ending their group games with a gold medal game rematch against Sweden on Sunday afternoon.
Honorable Mention: Mikko Koivu's(notes) three assists for Finland led all players in scoring on day two action ... In his fifth Olympics, Teemu Selanne's(notes) assist tied him with Russia's Valeri Kharlamov, Canada's Harry Watson and Czechoslovakia's Vlastimil Bubnik for the all-time scoring lead with 36 points. His nine shots on goal were almost as many as the entire Belarus team who had 12 ... Miikka Kiprusoff(notes) had a very light night needing to only make 11 saves in the win and faced four shots through the first two periods ... Finland's power play units set the early lead by cashing in on their first two opportunities ... After battling injuries since he left the NHL in 2008, Sweden's Peter Forsberg(notes) finished with 12:57 of ice time ... Tomas Vokoun(notes) made 34 saves and preserved the lead as the Czech Republic were outshot by Slovakia 12-2 in the third period ... After reportedly being set to miss their opening two games earlier this week, Slovakia's Marian Gaborik(notes) scored their only goal and finished second among team forwards in time-on-ice with 20:12.
Did You Know? Sweden's shutout was their first in Olympic competition since the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway, which also came against Germany.
Dishonorable Mention: Both Sweden's Johnny Oduya(notes) and Germany's Marcel Muller received two-minute penalties for checking from behind and 10-minute misconducts early in the second period ... Ohlund's first goal for Sweden should have been waved off after replays showed Daniel Sedin jumping into Germany goaltender Thomas Greiss as he tried to avoid the shot.
