U.S. men’s coach Tony Granato wants his players thinking about what they can do to Slovakia and not what the Slovaks can do to them.
Granato believes setting the tempo is how the Americans can beat Slovakia on Tuesday (airing at 10:10 p.m. ET Monday on CNBC) and advance to the Olympic hockey quarterfinals against the Czech Republic.
“(The Slovaks) are big, strong and want to slow the game down to their pace,” Granato said. “We obviously want to pick it up to our pace. We have to skate. We can’t get in that methodical game, wait-and-see.”
The Americans (1-1-1) used their speed to draw penalties and create scoring chances to beat Slovakia 2-1 in their preliminary round meeting. They anticipate needing to play at an even higher level to beat them for a second time.
What the Americans need most are more goals. They have only scored four in their three games thus far.
“We haven’t scored goals, but we have made it hard on teams in their own end,” Granato said. “Now we have to find a way to turn that into three or four goals.”
Three of USA’s goals have come from college players. To have any opportunity to advance, the Americans need their veteran forwards, such as Brian Gionta, Mark Arcobello, Broc Little or Bobby Butler, to find the net.
Gionta, a one-time 48-goal scorer for the NHL's New Jersey Devils, didn’t practice, but is expected to play against Slovakia.
Although the Slovaks are 1-2 in the tournament, they have scored twice as many goals as USA.
“They are a good team — no question about it,” Granato said. “They beat Russia.”
The Americans respect Slovakia’s ability to rise up in important games, as they did in their opening game when they the Olympic Athletes from Russia 3-2. The Russians have already beaten the Americans and are considered the gold medal favorite.
“(The Slovaks) are extremely skilled but they pay attention to the defensive side of the game,” U.S. goalie Ryan Zapolski said. “They are opportunistic. Their identity is they skate fast and defend well.”
The Americans know what they have to do.
“The solution is to continue to try be more aggressive,” Granato said. “Finding the way to get bounces. How do you get bounces? You throw more pucks at the net. You find ways to get sticks and bodies in front. A lot of goals in this tournament are deflected.”
If USA beat Slovakia, the team is where it wanted to be — in the quarterfinals with a fair chance of winning.
“The extra game might be good for us honestly,” Zapolski said. “We need another game to learn about each other. Hopefully we can use it to our advantage.”
Zapolski said the U.S. defensemen are only now becoming comfortable playing with each other.
“The D-zone is difficult when you have a new bunch of guys,” Zapolski said. “When you are playing with new linemates, guys you’ve never played with before, it’s difficult to sort out. It’s difficult to know where everyone is going to be.”