Goal differential is 'huge' in Olympic hockey
Near the end of Sweden's 4-2 win over the Czech Republic on Wednesday, some wondered why the team on the losing end wasn't pulling their goalie in lieu of an extra attacker.
Elliotte Friedman of CBC offered this simple response.
People were asking why CZE did not pull the goalie...remember goal differential can matter.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 12, 2014
Earlier on Wednesday, Canadian defenseman Drew Doughty acknowledged the importance of trying to score right up to the final whistle based on how goal differential factors into rankings heading into the medal round.
“I don’t think you ever want to take your foot off the gas regardless of the rules,” Doughty said, via Pro Hockey Talk. “We don’t ever want to embarrass teams if we have the opportunity to do that, but at the same time goal differential is huge.”
As a point of reference, here's how group rankings are determined in the Olympic tournament (via sochi2014.iihf.com):
- highest position in respective group
- highest number of points
- better goal difference
- high number of goals scored for
- 2013 IIHF World Ranking.
Thus, the Czech Republic put more of a premium on preventing another goal against than on attempting to draw even with Sweden by subbing their goalie in order to bring an extra attacker on the ice.
Based on the tournament format, other teams looking to advance to the medal round are likely to follow suit.