USA Women's Hockey Live-Stream Schedule, Odds for Semifinal Matchup
The United States women's hockey team earned a valuable few days of rest by finishing second in Group A.
Although the conclusion of pool play didn't produce the result the Americans wanted, they are still in a terrific position to advance to the gold-medal game.
Robb Stauber's team dropped into the second seed for the semifinal round after falling 2-1 to Canada Wednesday night.
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Following a four-day break, the Americans are set to take the ice Monday against the winner of the quarterfinal game between Sweden and Finland.
Date: Monday, February 19
Time: TBD
Live stream: NBCOlympics.com
Odds to win tournament (according to OddsShark): United States -120 (bet $120 to win $100)
Focus Shifts to Earning Rematch with Canada
The United States came up short in the first meeting of the women's hockey giants at the Olympics, but despite the defeat, the Americans left the ice with a positive mindset.
The Americans pointed to their 45 shots on goal as something they can build on leading up to a potential rematch with Canada in the gold-medal game.
Forward Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson kept it simple, as she told USA Hockey's Harry Thompson all her team needs to do is finish more scoring opportunities:
"We have to find a way to bury those. It's as simple as that. We did a lot of things well today, and we'll take the positives out of this game and fix some things that we can fix. We had opportunities to tie this game, we just need to find a way to get more than one puck in the net if we're getting 45 shots on goal."
Despite conceding twice, the Americans put in one of their best defensive performances against the Canadians, as they only let up 23 shots on goal. Unfortunately, two of those went past goalie Maddie Rooney.
You can't say the U.S. gained a ton of confidence from the loss because it came against the team's most hated rival, but a moral victory of sorts was earned because the Americans had so many opportunities.
It all comes down to focusing on the semifinal opponent to earn the gold-medal clash.
Although they have lost three of the past four Olympic finals to Canada, the United States has come out on top in the past three IIHF Women's World Championships, with the past two wins over the Canadians coming in overtime.
While they are different competitions, it is worth noting this group of Americans has experience winning against Canada on the second-largest stage in the sport.
Balanced Attack Should Propel Americans Into Gold-Medal Game
In the two games prior to the Canada loss, the Americans overwhelmed opponents with an attack that struck in a variety of ways.
The opening victory over Finland saw Monique Lamoureux-Morando Kendall Coyne and Dani Cameranesi find the back of the net in a 3-1 victory.
In the 5-0 win over the Olympic Athletes from Russia, Lamoureux-Davidson was the only player to record multiple goals, while Gigi Marvin, Hannah Brandt and Kacey Bellamy scored a goal each.
Coyne was the lone scorer in the defeat to Canada, while 10 different players fired off three or more shots.
It's a good thing for the Americans they don't have to rely on one scorer, but they also need someone to take command and net the meaningful goals in the elimination round like Marie-Philip Poulin has for Canada in each of the two most recent gold-medal games.
There are a number of candidates to fill that role, including Coyne, but it's time for Meghan Duggan and Amanda Kessel to step up.
The perfect opportunity for the pair of American leaders to get in the scoring column comes in the semifinals against either a Sweden team they can dominate or a Finland side they defeated in pool play.
Regardless of the opponent, the United States should come out firing from the first second with recording a lopsided victory in mind.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
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