USA 3, Switzerland 1: Assist for Streit in uneven game

Mark Streit made several nice plays, but an uneven Team USA still finding itself was too talented for an organized but conservative Swiss team that never really pushed until it was too late. Still, a 3-1 goal differential in the first game isn't a bad start for Switzerland, whose next-round positioning will be determined by their result against Norway and how they keep it close against the U.S. and Canada.

After a slow start, Canada trounced Norway 8-0, and Streit's next match is Thursday against the old Norge. I expect the Swiss will loosen up a bit, as they were able to do in the third period today.

Streit had a secondary assist and like his teammates played physical -- his hit on Bobby Ryan might have even been too much so. He calmed things down and rescued his teammates several times in their own end, but he could not bail out young Yannick Weber on the pivotal David Backes end-to-end goal. (Weber backed up and gave Backes way too much space to go around him, while Streit covered his own man on the 2-on-2 that resulted in a solo highlight goal.)

Some Resources:

• Game highlight video [NBC]  |  Boxscore  |  Recap [NBC/NHL.com]
• Thorough IIHF recap
• David Backes and Julien Sprunger meet again [Pierre LeBrun]
• Cool Q&A with Weber, who clearly looks up to Streit [Montreal Gazette]
  
• In-game commentary from LeBrun and Scott Burnside
• The biggest joke of the holier-than-thou pure Olympics brought to you by McDonald's, Coke and NBC
  

Programming: I have the typically random off-day stuff scheduled during the break -- next, a look at Brendan Witt's Islanders career -- but expect brief posts like this for games involving Streit. As always, add your own topics and thoughts in the various forums here.