USA can't get it done, but will back into medal rounds.

For the second straight day, team USA came out with the pedal to the metal. They looked much sharper and more focused than in the first couple of games. Both Saturday and Sunday, though, they lost 2-1 games, and have put themselves in danger of not making the cut. Granted, that "danger" is very slim, but it is present.

On Saturday, the Americans could only muster one goal on 30 shots versus Slovakia. Peter Budaj was having a great game, making lots of huge stops. However, he was leaving lots of juicy rebounds that we just couldn't convert into goals. Sure, part of it has to do with the way international hockey is officiated differently than NHL, and part of it has to do with a European style of defense versus a North American style, but in the end, we just couldn't put it in the net.

Sunday was a similar story. USA created lots of chances and they were in high gear for the whole game, but they only scored one goal on 25 shots against Sweden. USA even had two lengthy five-on-three sequences that they couldn't do anything with. The plays are there, but the goals aren't. And things aren't going to get any easier, as the boys will take on the en fuego Russian team on Tuesday to wrap up round-robin play. Unless they lose by more than 17 goals, they'll make it to the elimination round, but with a disappointing fourth seed out of the B pool. Honestly, few people expected USA to win a medal, but I don't think anyone would have guessed that they'd barely qualify for the medal round.

Things will get really tough in the first round of elimination play, as they'll have to go against Finland, who has been by far the best team in the tournament. As I write this, they're well on their way to handing Canada it's second consecutive shutout loss. There may be a whole other post about Canada's disappearing act.