US cruises, Canada pushed to brink

In Olympic Men's Hockey, preliminary round games, the United States cruised to a 6-1 victory over Norway. Later on in the evening, Switzerland played a great game, even though they lost to host Canada, 3-2 in the shootout.
It was a hostile atmosphere for the States, as the Canadian fans in attendance, were hollering for Norway. Everytime the USA got a little rattled, the intensity of the Norway cheering picked up. The States were able to overcome the hostility, as they jumped up early on the Norwegians, through a goal by Phil Kessel at the 2:39 mark of the first period.
The United States was holding on to a 3-1 lead throughout much of the 2nd & 3rd periods before they were finally able to open the floodgates. Ryan "Bugsy" Malone scored the fourth goal for the United States, and defenseman Brian Rafalski was able to score twice in the final three minutes to make it 6-1.
The States outshot poor Norway 39-11, holding the Norwegians to only 2 shots in the first period. Goaltender Ryan Miller made the saves when he was called into action.
With the victory, the United States has already surpassed their win total from the 2006 Olympics in Torino, when they finished 1-4-1. The victory set up a chance for the States to capture Group A if they defeat heavily favored Canada on Sunday (7:30 pm EST, MSNBC).
In the evening game, Canada, fresh off their 8-0 beatdown they delivered to Norway on Tuesday, was pushed to the brink by Switzerland. The Swiss definitely play Canada tough, as they knocked them out of the 2006 Olympics. Canada jumped out to a 2-0 lead, on goals from Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau. Switzerland goalie, Jonas Hiller stood on his head, making 44 saves. The Swiss were able to chip away and get two goals past Canada's Martin Brodeur in the second period.
When the horn sounded at the end of the third period, everyone in the building was shocked, as Canada and Switzerland were headed to overtime. Brodeur and Hiller kept the game scoreless throughout the 5-minute overtime period. It took a total of four shooters in the shootout to decide the game.
Canadian darling, Sidney Crosby was stoned by Hiller on his first shootout attempt, but was able to redeem himself the second time. After Brodeur & Hiller stopped the first three shooters in the shootout, up stepped Crosby again. Crosby skated in and ripped a twisted wrister past the blocker of Jonas Hiller to put Canada up 1-0 the shootout. The pressure then shifted to Brodeur. Martin Pluss stepped up for the Swiss. He skated in and tried to get a wrist shot past the glove of Brodeur. Bad idea, as Brodeur has one of the best glove hands in the world. Brodeur was able to stop the shot, thus giving the entire country of Canada, a huge sigh of relief.
This sets up the biggest game in the biggest event, so far, in the Olympics, a USA/Canada showdown on Sunday. Everyone must tune into this massive game. This is what hockey fans want to see, two of the best in the world, going toe to toe in the best international hockey tournament. Here's to what is going to be a great game!