Men's ice hockey Day 4 Round Up: USA beat Canada, Czech Republic stun ROC

The United States men claimed their first Olympic victory over Canada since Vancouver 2010, while Czech Republic beat reigning champions ROC in the Beijing 2022 men's ice hockey tournament on Saturday (12 February)

Canada's Maxim Noreau bemoaned his team's defensive efforts against a vibrant young U.S. side, saying. "They are a strong team, and we gave them too much room on some of those goals."

Also in Group A, Germany held off a spirited fightback by hosts China to triumph 3-2.

ROC finished top of Group B despite a 6-5 overtime defeat to Czech Republic having not conceded in their opening two wins.

Olympic debutants Denmark could join them after their 5-3 defeat of Switzerland saw them take second place with the Czechs and Swiss going through to the qualification playoffs.

The action continues on Sunday with four match-ups: Slovakia play Latvia, Finland take on Sweden, China face Canada, and the USA go up against Germany.

The United States went top of Group A courtesy of a hard-fought 4-2 victory over arch-rivals Canada.

The victory was the Americans' first over their northern neighbours in Olympic competition since the preliminary rounds of Vancouver 2010 when they triumphed 5-3.

Canada struck the first blow in the tit-for-tat battle, with Mat Robinson giving his side a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the clash.

The U.S. punched back with captain Andy Miele, Ben Meyers and Brendan Brisson, giving their side the edge.

Corban Knight closed to gap to one late in the second period, but Kenny Agostino completed the scoring as USA showed off their medal credentials.

Canadian defenceman Noreau said bluntly, "We will have to learn from that. There are no excuses. We have to get better."

PyeongChang 2018 silver medallists