HELSINKI, Finland – The U.S. National Junior Team lost to Finland, 5-1, in its final pre-tournament contest here tonight at Helsinki Ice Hall. Blake Pietila (Brighton, Mich./Michigan Tech Univ.) scored Team USA's only goal. The team will now prepare for the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship Dec. 26, 2012-Jan. 5, 2013, in Ufa, Russia.

"Finland took the lead in the first period and I thought we disrupted the flow of our play by taking penalties," said Phil Housley, head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. "We cannot afford to take as many penalties as we did and expect to win. We will focus on becoming more disciplined before the tournament begins."

Finland gained a 1-0 advantage on a wrist shot from the right circle at 15:47 of the first period. Team USA nearly scored on the power play a few minutes later, but Rocco Grimaldi's (Rossmoor, Calif./Univ. of North Dakota) rebound bid was ruled to have not crossed the goal line.

Following a scoreless second period, the Finns scored twice in the opening 2:17 of the third period to lead 3-0. Less than a minute later, Pietila cut the deficit to two goals by converting a rebound chance. Jacob Trouba (Rochester, Mich./Univ. of Michigan) assisted on the goal.

Finland solidified the win with its second and third power play goals of the game at 5:02 and 11:31.

Team USA now flies to Ufa, Russia, on Sunday night (Dec. 23). The first game for the U.S. at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship is Thursday, Dec. 27, vs. Germany. Game time is 8 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) with NHL Network (DirectTV 215, Dish 403) broadcasting live and NHL.com streaming live.

NOTES: Seth Jones (Plano, Texas/Portland Winterhawks) was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... For the most thorough coverage of Team USA at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship, click here ... NHL Network is broadcasting all Team USA games live and re-airing them in prime time each night. NHL.com is also streaming all games live ... Phil Housley (South St. Paul, Minn.), head boy's ice hockey coach at Stillwater (Minn.) High School, is the head coach of the 2013 U.S. National Junior Team. He is assisted by Mark Osiecki (Columbus, Ohio), head men's ice hockey coach at Ohio State University, Grant Potulny (Minneapolis, Minn.), assistant men's ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota and David Lassonde (Denver, Colo.), assistant men's ice hockey coach at the University of Denver ... Jim Johannson (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey operations, is serving as the general manager of Team USA for the fourth consecutive year. Tim Taylor (Guilford, Conn.) is the director of player personnel ... Use the hashtag #USAWJC to join the conversation on Twitter.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

First Period – Scoring: 1, FIN, Leino (Nykopp, Hannikainen), 15:47. Penalties: USA, Gibson (delay of game), 0:55; USA, Miller (tripping), 10:46; USA, Grimaldi (slashing), 13:21; FIN, Riikola (interference), 16:19; FIN, Hannikainen (hooking), 17:37.

Second Period – Scoring: None. Penalties: USA, Pietila (slashing), 5:31; FIN, Barkov (hooking), 8:11; USA, Gostisbehere (slashing), 12:26; FIN, Salomaki (hooking), 12:54; USA, Jones (slashing), 19:08.

Third Period – Scoring: 2, FIN, Granland (Maata, Salomaki), 1:06 (pp); 3, FIN, Barkov (Haapala, Lehkonen), 2:17; 4, USA, Pietila (Trouba), 3:12; 5, FIN, Lehkonen (Barkov, Aaltonen), 5:02 (pp); 6, FIN, Teravainen (Barkov, Ristolainen), 11:31 (pp). Penalties: USA, Matteau (checking to the head), 3:40; USA, Matteau (10-minute misconduct), 3:40; USA, Hartman (boarding), 11:10; FIN, Salomaki (boarding), 12:03; Armia, (Interference), 16:20.

Power Play: USA 0-6; FIN 3-8
Penalties: USA 9-26; FIN 6-12