WHITEFISH — Whitefish native Jake Sanderson made his Olympic debut Friday evening against Canada in the preliminary round. Sanderson and the rest of the Team USA men's hockey team came out on top with a 4-2 win against Canada in Beijing, China.
This is the first time in 12 years that Team USA has beaten Canada in the Olympics and just the fourth time overall
Sanderson came out of the gate meeting expectations. Late in the first period, Sanderson led an offensive attack and got the puck right in front Ben Meyers for the goal making it 2-1 USA going into the second period. Sanderson ended his Olympic debut with one assist and one shot on goal.
Sanderson was the No. 5 pick by the Ottawa Senators in the 2020 NHL Draft and is currently a sophomore on the North Dakota men's hockey team. He entered COVID-19 protocols on Feb. 4 and did not leave Los Angeles with the rest of the team when they initially departed for the Olympics. Sanderson cleared COVID protocols on Wednesday but had to miss team U.S.A's first game against China, an 8-0 win for the U.S. on Thursday. However, he made his Olympic debut in game two against Canada as one of the youngest members to compete for Team USA.
The U.S men's hockey team will be playing Germany on Sunday at 6:10 a.m. Mountain Time to finish up pool play.
