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Figure skater Johnny Weir performs well in Men's Short program

BY BRAD NOLAN

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

N.J. AT THE GAMES

The United States slipped to second in the medal count Tuesday, closely behind Germany who is leading the pack with nine medals. France has gained some ground on the U.S. lead and is now within one of second. There were five medal contests on Tuesday, Woman's 10km Pursuit Biathlon, Men's 12.5km Pursuit Biathlon, Ladies Snowboard Cross, Ladies 500m Speed Skating, and Woman's Single Luge. The United States, as of the end of competition on Tuesday, has two Golds, two Silvers, and four Bronze medals.

MEDALS COUNT (CLICK)

Although the U.S. had not won a medal on Tuesday, the Men's and Woman's Hockey teams both won.

The Men's Hockey team won their first contest against the Swiss with a score of 3 to 1. One of New Jersey's Olympians scored the first goal in the United States' hockey contest. Cherry Hill, New Jersey native Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks started things off with a goal late in the first period. The U.S. never looked back. David Backes scored with 5:52 seconds into the second period against Swiss Goaltender Jonas Hiller. Ryan Malone of the U.S. would end the teams scoring drive for the night late in the second period to bring a near shut out opportunity for the United States. That opportunity however was lost almost half way through the third period when on a power play, Swiss forward Roman Wick put one past American Goalie Ryan Miller. Miller ended the game with a near ninety four percent save percentage. The name of the game would be shots on the goal in this first contest. The United States dominated that category twenty-four to fifteen. The U.S. Men will take a day of rest on Wednesday and resume their quest for Gold on Thursday in a contest against Norway.

The Woman's Hockey team had an impressive win over the Russian team winning 13-0. Forward Jenny Potter of the United States would finish the night with a hat trick, ending the night with three goals and one assist. Natalie Darwitz would be the points leader from Tuesday night's game ending with two goals and three assists. Fans did not have to wait too long to start to see action with American Monique Lamoureux starting the U.S. on the road to their second win and first shut out of the round robin tournament. Team USA's defensive power house was clearly evident over the Russians, with their opponent managing to get only seven shots on goal in the sixty minute long contest. Now two games in the U.S. Woman's team has been clearly overpowering their opponents. In one hundred and twenty minutes of play the U.S. has made ninety five shots on goal and scored twenty five points while receiving only fourteen shots against their goalie. The Woman have Wednesday off and resume play Thursday against Finland.

The ever-plagued Whistler Mountain once again threw a curve ball to Olympic Organizers this time for the opposite reason then has been the standard for the mountain in recent days. At the peak almost nine inches of snow fell over night and five at the base of the track causing track conditions that were too soft for competition. The events will now take place on Sunday and Tuesday an hour and a half earlier then were scheduled for Wednesday.

It was a good day for the United States on the Figure Skating rink Tuesday. Figure Skater Evan Lysacek finished in second after an amazing short routine that brought him within .55 points of the leader after the Men's Short Program Russian Evgeni Plushenko. 2010 U.S. Men's Champion Jeremy Abbott failed to preform as he did in Spokane at the championships and will have to settle for 15th. The U.S. Champion's program started to fall apart after he bailed out of his second element and lost a number of points. New Jersey's Johnny Weir had a better then expected day finishing the Men's Short in sixth. The top 25 skaters move on to the Men's Free Skate.

The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) took a few shots back at the press Tuesday insisting that they may be a little too harsh on the Vancouver games.

"We can't do anything about the weather, all we can do is react properly to it," Renee Smith-Valde, spokeswomen for the VANOC told media on Tuesday.

Organizers were said to be shocked by their treatment in the media, specifically British media that has been portraying the city extremely harshly.

Smith-Valde questioned the validity of the British reports stating that it makes everyone wonder if it's even the same city that they are reporting from.

Wednesday will see a wide range of competition ranging from Curling to Snowboarding and Cross Country Skiing to the Luge. To see when specific events will be televised, check your local television listings. The games are being carried by NBC/Universal and are being carried on NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, USA, Universal HD and Universal Sports.