Winter Olympics 2018: What's next for Team USA hockey after loss to Russia?

A jam-packed second weekend to the Winter Olympics included Team USA hockey playing Russia in the morning and in the primetime schedule, men’s slopestyle skiing and men’s giant slalom. 

Team USA had a disappointing 4-0 loss to Russia, dropping Team USA to 1-2 in Group B play. The U.S. must now play in the qualification round Tuesday, while Russians finished first in the group and move on directly to the quarterfinals, hoping their dominance puts T.J. Oshie’s shootout performance in 2014 further in the rearview mirror.

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What to watch:

Men’s Skiing Slopestyle: 

• When: 8-10:10 ET  (qualifying), 11:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. (gold medal final)
• TV: NBCSN for qualifying, NBC for gold medal final  | Stream: NBCOlympics.com, fuboTV   

Men’s giant slalom:  

• When: 8-11 p.m. ET, first run (LIVE), 11:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. ET (second run) 
• TV: NBC | Stream: NBCOlympics.com, fuboTV (

Women’s Skeleton (gold medal final runs) 

SEE MORE: 

Follow along live: Winter Olympics results (All times Eastern unless otherwise noted)

8:00 p.m.: CBS Sports analysis: What’s next for Team USA hockey after the loss to Russia?

 The United States men’s hockey team had an opportunity to secure a bye in the elimination round of the Olympic tournament on Saturday, but that chance quickly disappeared against the Olympic Athletes from Russia, who dominated in a 4-0 rout, CBS Sports reports.The loss dropped the Americans to 1-2 in Group B play, with the sole win coming in a 2-1 victory over Slovakia. 

OAR completely dominated zone control throughout the game, and that’s where Team USA needs to get better. If the Americans can’t start to control the puck, they have no chance whatsoever of advancing to quarterfinal play.

The thing is, this team wasn’t expected to bring home the gold. Losing NHLrepresentation crippled Team USA, especially so late in the cycle, hearkening back to the Miracle on Ice days — but that was called a miracle for a reason. The American team, frankly, isn’t that good this year. Gary Bettman’s decision to keep NHL players out of the Olympics was already controversial, but after this showing there’s a very real chance we’ll see people harassing the NHL commissioner to bring them back to the Olympics, whether that’s realistic or not.

The team inspired some hope early on, going up 2-0 on Slovenia in the first game of group play. Team USA then gave up three unanswered goals, including the overtime game winner. Team USA then won 2-1 against Slovakia, inspiring further hope for the group. However, OAR’s Nikolai Prokhorkin quickly dashed that hope, scoring two goals for Russia before former NHL star Ilya Kovalchuk slammed the door shut for a 4-0 Russia win.

The reason is simple: This team finished behind Slovenia in group play. That’s not good. In a group with Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia, Team USA was hardly in a Group of Death. But it still finished in third place, because it’s a teddy bear as well. It’s hard to blame the players. They’re nearly 30 years old in average age, and they’re fielding some of the United States’ oldest Olympians across any discipline. It’s a difficult situation, period.  

So what’s next for Team USA? An elimination game, technically. Between Monday night and Tuesday morning, the first round of the playoffs will be played. However, Team USA needs to think about the bigger picture too. The first step is to recruit younger talent. Presuming that the NHL continues to keep players out of the Olympics, the only way to get another Lake Placid will be to recruit players that can handle the strain of the Olympics. That’s not to say that the current team is somehow out of shape — it’s just old. And as long as players from the Kontinental Hockey League are allowed to represent Russia, the 4-0 gulf will be apparent.

This team might not medal, but it’s certainly giving a lot to think about moving forward. And it isn’t out yet, there’s still hope. But it’s a longshot. And if Team USA fails to make the quarterfinals or, worse, gets routed on Monday night/Tuesday morning, then fans (and NHL players, for that matter) may be fairly vocal in letting the country’s best represent the country. Because four goals in group play isn’t going to cut it if you want to field a team with any chance at a medal.

7:45 p.m.: Medal count so far

Going into Saturday, Norway still dominated with 22 medals. Team USA and Russia were tied with 9 medals each.