No dream start for China
Team China made its Olympic debut, but suffered a rude awakening in a 0-8 loss to Team USA. In Group A’s other action, Canada defeated 2018 silver medallist Germany 5-1.
China 0 USA 8 (0-1, 0-3, 0-4)
Team China’s Olympic debut started bravely but the Dragons were ultimately undone by a hat-trick from Sean Farrell. The 20-year-old Montreal Canadiens prospect also had two assists as a young USA roster skated to a convincing victory.
However, China can take pride from a battling performance that saw the Olympic rookies keep pace with illustrious opposition until the latter half of the game. While there was little prospect of a sensation, the game was more competitive than the scoreline suggested. American goalie Drew Commesso was kept busy throughout, finishing with 29 saves to claim a shut-out on the day the 19-year-old became the USA’s youngest ever Olympic goalie.
Jieke Kailiaosi (Jake Chelios) talked up China’s start to the game. “The Americans are a young, skilled team and we wanted to come out and show them that we’re not just going to get run over,” he said. “That’s why it got a little physical there. We liked our first period. We got in a little penalty trouble and that’ll wear you down, but I felt like we competed, so that’s a positive we’ll take into the next game.”
China, with a roster drawn entirely from Kunlun Red Star, was competitive in the first period. Zesen Zhang set the tone with a crunching hit on Brock Faber in the first minute and Jiang Fu (Spencer Foo) almost danced his way to the opening goal of the game as he spun away from Nick Perbix only to be denied by Commesso. Unfortunately, he finished the play with a minor for goalie interference and the Americans converted that power play to open the scoring.
In the middle frame, Farrell got to work. He started by setting up Noah Cates for the 2-0 goal, then shot home the fourth himself. In between there was an effort made in the KHL as Andy Miele, U.S. captain here in Beijing, produced a delightful behind-the-back feed to set up Jokerit’s Brian O’Neill for the 3-0 marker.
Jierumi Shimisi (Jeremy Smith) endured the same kind of workload he often faces in the KHL, finishing with 47 saves off 55 shots, and he allowed two more markers from Farrell in the final frame. Farrell also assisted for Ben Meyers and Matty Beniers, the #2 draft pick, showed his quality with an excellent snipe.
“It was busy in my end, but that was to be expected,” Shimisi said. “We had a game plan coming in, I think we’ll regroup, look at our mistakes and learn from them. We all feel proud of what we’ve done today, and who knows about the future.”
China had its chances late on, enjoying a 5-on-3 power play for a time. Fu and Juncheng Yan both went close but Team USA held on for a big, if slightly flattering win.
“It was a great experience,” added Kailiaosi. “Obviously that’s not the result we wanted but at the end of the day, all of us got a chance to play in the Olympics. The last few years we’ve been working for, there’s been so much anticipation leading up to it, and it’s been such an awesome experience.”
Canada 5 Germany 1 (3-0, 1-1, 1-0)
In the other Group A game, Canada dominated 2018 silver medallist Germany to begin with a comfortable victory. Jokerit defenseman Alex Grant marked his Olympic debut with the opening goal then midway through the first period Ben Street fired home off an Eric O’Dell feed to double the lead. Former Kunlun Red Star center Adam Cracknell got an assist as Daniel Winnik made it 3-0 to put Canada in complete control.
Germany pulled one back midway through the middle frame thanks to Tobias Rieder, but almost immediately a high sticking penalty helped Canada pot a fourth through Maxim Noreau as Dynamo Moscow’s O’Dell got his second helper of the night. In the third period, Ak Bars’ Jordan Weal added a fifth goal, assisted by Corban Knight and Adam Tambellini.
