MILAN — Matthew Tkachuk insists he and his U.S. teammates were focused only on beating Germany in their preliminary round finale and never worried about scoring enough goals to pass Canada for the top seed at the Olympics.
«We never talked once about the top seed at all,» Tkachuk said. «None of that seeding stuff. All that handles itself.»
It’s handled now, after the U.S. defeated Germany 5-1 on Sunday behind two goals and an assist from captain Auston Matthews and 23 saves from Connor Hellebuyck. The Americans finished group play unbeaten to clinch the second seed in the knockout round.
Zach Werenski, whose goal was set up by Matthews. «They have a lot of talent on that team, and we know last year at the 4 Nations it was a hard game. I expect the same thing in the quarters if that’s who we’re playing against.»
It could be quite the test for the U.S., which has faced Latvia, Denmark and Germany so far.
The game against Germany was a chance for the Americans to fine-tune their play before the tournament goes to single-elimination playoffs. Tkachuk had a pair of assists, and Matthews, the captain just as he was at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago, had his best showing of the tournament.
Hellebuyck also looked good in his second start, allowing only a goal to Tim Stutzle. The U.S. got the goaltending it expected from him after a shaky outing from Jeremy Swayman 24 hours earlier.
«I thought it was his best game,» coach Mike Sullivan said. «I just think he was tracking pucks extremely well.»
