U.S. men win, keep pace with Canada for top seed at Olympics - ESPN

MILAN — Sitting on the bench with the U.S. surprisingly trailing Denmark at the Olympics, Jack Eichel and linemates Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk talked about wanting to make a difference.

Then they did just that.

Eichel scored off his own faceoff win a minute after setting up Brady Tkachuk's goal the same way, and the U.S. rode its top line to a 6-3 defeat of Denmark on Saturday night, keeping pace with also-unbeaten Canada for the top seed in the men's hockey tournament.

"[We were] just sticking with it, trusting each other," Brady Tkachuk said. «That's what shows the character in our room is the trust and belief with one another that if we stick with it, we'll like the result at the end of the day.»

The U.S. bounced back from goaltender Jeremy Swayman getting beaten by a shot from 95 feet away, just inside the center red line, 11 minutes in. Swayman won't have to kick himself too badly for the blunder after some of his most talented teammates stepped up to make the long-distance goal from Nicholas B. Jensen and another soft one from Phillip Bruggisser with 2.6 seconds left in the second period moot.

«I'm really proud of this group for staying even-keeled,» Swayman said. «The confidence never left the group, and that's a serious trait at this stage in the tournament. The guys rallied, and we got it done»

The goals by Brady Tkachuk and Eichel — two-thirds of the top line along with Brady's brother, Matthew — midway through the second period tied it and gave the U.S. the lead. Defenseman Noah Hanifin added another when his shot got through Mads Sogaard and trickled over the goal line a bit later, providing some breathing room that proved necessary.

Jake Guentzel fired a one-timer past Sogaard with a little more than