USA Blows 2-0 Lead, Loses 3-2 in Overtime in 2018 Olympics Opener vs. Slovenia

The United States men's hockey team blew a 2-0 third-period lead to open the 2018 Winter Olympics with a 3-2 overtime loss to Slovenia on Wednesday at the Kwandong Hockey Centre in South Korea.  

Brian O'Neill scored the Americans' first goal late in the first period. Jordan Greenway also found the net for the United States. But Slovenia stormed back with two goals in the final 15 minutes to force overtime, where captain Jan Mursak played the hero with the game-winner.

Team USA, as well as the event's other top contenders, had its roster pool weakened by the NHL's decision not to participate in the Pyeongchang Games. So the U.S. is attempting to win gold without the likes of the Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Kane and Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews.

United States captain Brian Gionta had expressed optimism to Amy Moritz of the Buffalo News about the team's talent level heading into the Olympics despite the lack of high-end star power:

"It's a highly skilled bunch of guys that will be in the Olympics. I know there's been some talk that not having the NHL guys in means you don't have your highest-skilled guys. I think that's a bad representation of the people that are going over there to compete in these games. There's a lot of great hockey players and I like the makeup of our team personally, but I think the competition is going to be extremely tough."

The U.S. pushed the pace against Slovenia, the most unheralded team in Group B, which also features the Olympic Athletes from Russia and Slovakia. It outshot the European squad 11-3 in the opening period, and O'Neill struck with just over two minutes left.

NBC Olympics highlighted the Jokerit forward's tally off a feed from Garrett Roe:

Ryan Zapolski made a couple of key saves early in the second period to keep Team USA in front. Greenway then scored midway through the frame to give the Americans more cushion.

The Boston University standout, who's the first African American player to represent the U.S. in men's ice hockey at the Olympics, found a loose puck amid a scrum in front of Slovenian netminder Gasper Kroselj and tapped it home to make it 2-0.

Jan Urbas trimmed the United States' lead back to one early in the third period. The Americans struggled to maintain consistent puck possession with the Slovenians increasing their forecheck, and the additional zone time paid off for the underdogs.

The trend continued until Slovenia scored the equalizer with 1:37 remaining as Mursak capitalized on the team's relentless pressure by beating Zapolski, who was under siege throughout the third period and OT.

Greg Wyshynski‏ of ESPN commented on the U.S.' blown lead:

Mursak added his second goal of the game 38 seconds into overtime to complete the comeback win. It capped a disastrous finish after two strong periods by the Americans.

ESPN's Chris Peters‏ analyzed the Jekyll-and-Hyde performance:

The United States will return to action Friday afternoon in South Korea (Thursday night at 10 p.m. ET in the U.S.) against Slovakia. That contest will be another tough test after the Slovakians pulled off their own upset Wednesday with a 3-2 regulation win over the tournament favorite Olympic Athletes from Russia.