Tage Thompson helped Team USA get off to a robust start versus Slovakia in the boys’s ice hockey semifinals, something that has been lacking in these Winter Olympics, but he didn’t finish the sport. The Buffalo Sabres star, who tallied a goal and assist in a 6-2 win, appeared to suffer some form of lower-body injury. He was not on the bench for the beginning of the third period and was ruled out for the rest of the matchup. There’s some encouraging news, nonetheless.
Thompson was held out as a result of precautionary reasons, per hockey insider Elliotte Friedman. While it is clearly unlucky that the 28-year-old forward had to go away the ice, Americans will take comfort in knowing that he apparently could have played if needed. Still, fans will wait to completely loosen up until they get a more concrete injury update ahead of Sunday’s gold medal showdown with powerhouse Canada.
Team USA has struggled to construct early momentum for a great portion of the Milano Cortina Games, but Thompson did his part to present his squad a pleasant cushion heading into the second period. He assisted on a Dylan Larkin goal a couple of minutes into the motion, after which shot a rocket into the online to place america up 2-0 with slightly below 41 seconds left in the primary period. Thompson has scored 3 times within the Olympics.
His countrymen definitely want him skating alongside them for an enormous collision with The Great White North. If Team USA goes to upset supremely talented Canada, it may have to set the tone. Tage Thompson proved he could handle such a job on Friday. It has yet to be determined if he’ll get the possibility to accomplish that again within the gold medal game, but there’s reason to imagine he can be lively on Sunday.