Olympic Hockey Results 2018: Saturday's Scores and Top Highlights

The Olympic Athletes from Russia scored a 4-0 men's hockey victory over the United States on Saturday to win Group B at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Elsewhere, the Czech Republic edged Canada in a shootout to take control of Group A after two games. Switzerland and Slovenia also picked up victories in the men's tournament.

On the women's side, the Olympic Athletes from Russia and Finland posted dominant triumphs to join the heavily favored Canadians and Americans in the semifinals.

Saturday's Hockey Results

Men (Group Play)

Czech Republic 3, Canada 2 (Friday night in U.S.)

If Thursday's blowout of Switzerland provided optimism Canada could contend for a gold medal without its herd of NHL superstars, Saturday's loss to the Czechs showed it won't be a cakewalk to the latter stages of the event for the typically dominant Canadians.

All four goals scored in the contest came inside the first 21 minutes. It was a defensive battle from that point forward as the sides remained deadlocked until a shootout, which the Czech Republic won with Jan Kovar supplying the winning tally.

Mason Raymond and Rene Bourque scored goals for Canada. Dominik Kubalik and Michal Jordan found the net for the 1998 gold medalists.

Switzerland 8, South Korea 0

It appeared South Korea could exceed expectations after playing the Czechs tough in a 2-1 loss to open group play Thursday. The underdogs from the host nation couldn't keep it nearly as close against the Swiss, who scored five times in the third period.

The game wasn't quite as lopsided as the final score would indicate, though. The Koreans were only outshot 34-25, but they failed to take advantage of five chances on the power play, and it allowed Switzerland to pull away late.

Nevertheless, South Korea could prove a tough out once the knockout stage rolls around given the strong support of the home fans.

Group A play will finish Sunday with the Czech Republic taking on Switzerland and South Korea facing another uphill battle against Canada.

Olympic Athletes from Russia 4, United States 0

The Russian team opened the tournament with a stunning 3-2 regulation loss to Slovakia. The sluggish start is now firmly in the past as the Russians were clicking on all cylinders to blow out the United States.

Ilya Kovalchuk and Nikolai Prokhorkin each scored twice, and the Russian defense stood tall with the Americans struggling to create many legitimate scoring chances throughout the contest.

A goal by Kovalchuk inside the final second of Period 2 to make it 3-0 was a particularly crushing blow for the U.S., as spotlighted by NBCSN:

Vasily Koshechkin made 29 saves to earn the shutout.

Slovenia 3, Slovakia 2

After a scoreless first period, Blaz Gregorc and Anze Kuralt scored power-play goals inside the first five minutes of the second to give Slovenia a 2-0 lead. But the Slovaks fought back with tallies by Milos Bubela and Marcel Hascak to force overtime.

Nobody could break the deadlock despite an entertaining back-and-forth extra period, so the game concluded with a shootout, which Slovenia won 2-1 for the bonus point.

Now the Group B teams will await their knockout stage assignments. The Russian team will advance directly to the quarterfinals, while the United States, Slovenia and Slovakia must play in the qualification round for a chance to reach the final eight.

Women (Quarterfinals)

Olympic Athletes from Russia 6, Switzerland 2 (Friday night in U.S.)

Lara Stalder actually gave Switzerland a 2-1 lead with just over eight minutes left in the second period, but the Russians answered with five unanswered goals to reach the semifinals.

Anna Shokhina led the offensive charge for the Russians with two goals and two assists. The OAR ended up lighting the lamp six times despite just 21 shots on goal.

The Russians advance to face Canada for a berth in the gold-medal game. The Canadians cruised to a 5-0 victory in a meeting between the teams during pool play.

Finland 7, Sweden 2

Petra Nieminen scored just over six minutes into the game and Finland never looked back en route to a romp over their Nordic rivals from Sweden.

It was an impressive display from the Finnish squad, which peppered 31 shots on the Swedish goal and successfully killed off both penalties called against them.

Finland's win sets up a clash with Team USA in the semifinals. It's another group-play rematch, with the Americans earning the 3-1 victory, though the Finns held an early 1-0 lead. Saturday's blowout win suggests the United States is in for a serious challenge Monday (Sunday night at 11 p.m. ET in the U.S.).