Lack Of Goaltending Or Scoring Prowess? USA Leads 6-0 In 2nd Period

You can’t tell me you saw this one coming.

It was thought that this was going to be a tough game for the United States, as the up-tempo offense of Finland and exceptional goaltending would give them just as much trouble as Canada or Russia would. Just over ten minutes into this game, the outcome was mostly decided and 12:46 into the first period the game was essentially over.

Six goals by the United States in the first period, including two by Patrick Kane and four overall by the USA’s top line, put this game completely out of reach and has pretty much assured their appearance in the gold medal game on Sunday.

While the USA’s aggressive forecheck and offensive firepower were certainly a factor, Miikka Kiprusoff’s horrendous start for Finland seems to be worse than what we saw Wednesday night from Russian goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. Kiprusoff allowed four goals on seven shots, including an egregious turnover when he passed the puck straight up the ice and onto Ryan Malone’s stick.

Nicklas Backstrom faired no better, allowing two more goals off six USA shots in the first period.

Amazingly, still no score in the second period.

More: SB Nation’s full coverage of the Winter Olympics and the 2010 Winter Olympics Medal Count Tracker.