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Dan Treacy
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The United States won’t be the No. 1 seed in the bracket phase of the Olympic hockey tournament, but Team USA walked away from the preliminary round without a major misstep.
After opening their Olympic run with back-to-back wins, the U.S. finished off a perfect trip through Group C with a 5-1 victory over Germany on Sunday.
STREAM: Watch Olympic hockey games live with Peacock
Both offenses started slowly in the Group C finale, with the USA struggling to convert opportunities until Zach Werenski found the back of the net with 8.7 seconds remaining in the first period. In the second period, the floodgates started to open for the Americans. Auston Matthews scored two of his team’s four goals the rest of the way, and a goal by Tage Thompson early in the third period just about put Germany away.
Tim Stutzle scored Germany’s only goal of the day with the game out of reach.
The U.S. needed to win by at least 10 goals to beat out Canada for the No. 1 seed in the bracket. That wasn’t in the cards, which means the Americans would face a tough No. 7 seed in Sweden if the Swedes get past Latvia in the playoff round.
Germany, meanwhile, will be favored against No. 11 France in the playoffs with an eye toward a potential quarterfinal matchup with Slovakia.
The Sporting News tracked live updates and highlights from Sunday’s Olympic men’s hockey game between the United States and Germany. Check out all of the key moments you might have missed.
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All times ET.
5:37 p.m. — That will do it! The U.S. closes out a 5-1 win and will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament phase of competition, while Germany lands in the No. 6 seed and will face France in the playoffs on Tuesday.
5:28 p.m. — The USA is closing in on a win now, with about five minutes remaining in the third period and a four-goal lead in hand.
5:19 p.m. GOAL — Tim Stutzle gets Germany on the board past the midway point of the final period. In case it wasn’t already clear, the U.S. will not be getting the No. 1 seed by winning by 10 or more goals.
5:10 p.m. — There was some chippiness after the goal, but it didn’t materialize into much of anything.
5:09 p.m. GOAL — Make it five for the United States, as Auston Matthews scores his second goal of the day. He’s assisted by Jake Sanderson and Noah Hanifin to stretch the American lead to 5-0.
5:02 p.m. GOAL — Tage Thompson scores the USA’s fourth goal of the day! Dylan Larkin had the assist. The Americans lead 4-0.
5:00 p.m. — The third period is underway with the United States leading 3-0.
4:40 p.m. GOAL — Brock Faber takes a pass from Matthew Tkachuk and fires in a goal from long range! That puts the USA up by three deep into the second period.
4:28 p.m. — Nico Sturm looks for a penalty after getting tripped up but doesn’t find one. Germany remains scoreless through 33 minutes.
4:20 p.m. — Germany has created a few more offensive opportunities for itself in this period, but Hellebuyck has held strong with 14 total saves so far.
4:09 p.m. GOAL — Quinn Hughes’ shot rebounds off of Auston Matthews and puts the USA up by two! Matthews is credited with the goal, and Tage Thompson has an assist as well.
4:05 p.m. — The second period is underway as the USA looks to take full control of this game after a goal right near the end of the first.
3:44 p.m. GOAL — With 8.7 seconds left in the first period, the USA breaks the stalemate! Zach Werenski scores his first Olympic playoff goal to give the Americans the momentum heading into the intermission.
3:38 p.m. — Germany puts together its best offensive burst yet with a pair of shots on Hellebuyck, but the USA goaltender handles both. These teams are scoreless with under three minutes remaining in the period.
3:33 p.m. — The U.S. has recorded the last eight shots on goal but can’t get anything to go to this point. Franzreb is holding his own through 14 minutes of play.
3:26 p.m. — Germany kills off the penalty after Jake Guentzel misses an opportunity.
3:22 p.m. — Shots are close to even through seven minutes at 4-3 in favor of the USA, but the Americans are going to have a power-play after a German penalty.
3:14 p.m. — An early chance for Matt Boldy is stopped by Franzreb.
3:10 p.m. — The puck drops right on time, and the final game of the preliminary round is underway in Milan. Maximilian Franzreb is in net for Germany, with Philipp Grubauer backing him up.
2:45 p.m. — Elsewhere in Group C, Denmark leads Latvia 3-2 through two periods. Latvia, with Latvia scoring the last two goals to cut into Denmark’s lead. A Denmark win would leave both teams with three points with each finishing behind the United States.
2:15 p.m. — Clayton Keller is in for Kyle Connor, while Jake Oettinger backs up Connor Hellebuyck in net after Jeremy Swayman’s tough day against Denmark.
One hour ’til puck drop 👀 #WinterOlympics
Game preview: https://t.co/mN2Aquo9Dm pic.twitter.com/xELfYWbzLa
1:20 p.m. — The U.S. enters Sunday needing to defeat Germany by 10 or more goals to secure the No. 1 seed, a tall task.
Canada beats France 10-2, finishes round-robin with a goal differential of +17
USA enters Germany game later tonight at +7. To take top seed from Canada would need to win by at least 10.
If they equal` in differential, second tiebreaker is goals for. Canada locked in at 20. USA…
MORE: USA men's hockey Olympic schedule
Sunday’s preliminary round battle between the United States and Germany will start at 3:10 p.m. ET on Friday from the Milano Santagiulia IHO arena.
Sunday’s game between the United States and Germany will air on USA Network in the United States. Viewers in the U.S. can also stream the game on Peacock.
Dan Treacy is a content producer for Sporting News, joining in 2022 after graduating from Boston University. He founded @allsportsnews on Instagram in 2012 and has written for Lineups and Yardbarker.