Sochi Olympics: How the Bruins played: 2-12-14
As everyone knows at this point, the Boston Bruins have five players playing in Sochi during the Olympic Games. We’re going to try to break down the events and the impact the Bruins players made during each of their games, as our favorite players of the Black and Gold take on the world (and occasionally each other) as they battle for Gold in Russia. In the first day, and the very first game we saw Bruins brothers as rivals in Group C of Men’s Hockey.
Sweden took on the Czech Republic in one of two games today.(The other game was Switzerland vs. Latvia where no Bruins competed, The Swiss beat the Latvians 1-0.) For the Boston Bruins, both Olympic teams had past and present Bruins. Loui Eriksson served as the Bruins player from the Swedes, and David Krejci for the Czechs. The Czechs also had Tomas Kaberle who played for the Bruins during their 2011 Stanley Cup run, and last years’ Bruins star Jaromir Jagr.
The Swedes ended up winning this match 4-2. The Swedish team started out strong, earning the four first goals of the game, and proved to be a serious contender for the gold this year. Erik Karlsson ofthe Ottawa Senators put in the first and fourth goals for Sweden. Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers had a strong performance as well for Team Sweden. He went 27-29 (.931 save%) in the net for Sweden. As for the Bruins participation on the Swedish side, Loui Eriksson finished with two shots on goal, a -1, and 18:37 of ice time played over twenty seven shifts.
On the Czech side of the board, former Bruin Jaromir Jagr scored for the Czechs, with an assist by Kaberle. The Bruins’ David Krejci, while not scoring any points for his team was strong in the face off circle. He went 9 for 12 in face offs, and played 19:36 of ice time dispersed over twenty shifts.
The Swedes are heavily favored to be in the finals, and with their performance in this first game, they are proving to be up to the hype. Tomorrow, both the US and Canada will play their first games of the tournament.