U.S. Falls to Canada, 3-0, at Men's Worlds

Cory Schneider (Marblehead, Mass.) made 33 saves and the United States generated 28 shots on goal, but the U.S. Men's National Team fell to Canada, 3-0, in its final preliminary game of the 2019 IIHF Men's World Championship.

“The game obviously didn't go the way we wanted,” said Jeff Blashill, head coach of the 2019 U.S. Men’s National Team and also the bench boss of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. “You start the tournament trying to get yourself in the quarterfinals. We've done that and now y ou have to win three hockey games. We'll put this behind us and move forward."

The United States closes preliminary-round play with an overall record of 5-1-0-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L) and a fourth-place finish in Group A. Quarterfinal action will take place on Thursday (May 23) when the United States meets Russia, winner of Group B, at Ondrej Nepela Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia. Puck drop is slated for 4:15 p.m. local time (10:15 a.m. ET) and the game will be broadcast live in the United States on NHL Network.

Canada opened the scoring 1:49 into the game when Pierre-Luc Dubois beat Schneider at the back-post off a behind-the-net feed from Mark Stone.

The next five minutes saw both teams generate scoring chances in search of the game's next goal, but neither were able to convert.

Kyle Turris doubled Canada's lead at the 8:02 mark when he finished a 2-on-1 opportunity by sending a one-timer just over the outstretched glove of Schneider.

With 3:40 left in the first 20 minutes of play, Johnny Gaudreau (Salem, N.J.) nearly brought the U.S. within one when his chance from in close was denied by Canada's goaltender, Matt Murray.

The middle frame saw the U.S. possess a majority of play as it looked to cut Canada's lead. Just five minutes into the stanza, both teams nearly converted as a scrum outside of the U.S. crease ended with an acrobatic left-pad save from Schneider that sprung the U.S. for an odd-man rush that ended with a pair of chances by Luke Kunin (Chesterfield, Mo.) denied.

Moments later, James van Riemsdyk (Middletown, N.J.) had a chance from the slot when he took a centering feed from Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass.) and fired a shot on net that generated a rebound Murray was able to cover.

At the 10:50 mark, the U.S. was a goalpost away from coming within a goal when Quinn Hughes (Orlando, Fla.) sprung Frank Vatrano (East Longmeadow, Mass.) on a breakaway opportunity. The play started deep in Team USA's zone with Hughes collecting the puck as a U.S. penalty kill expired and finding Vatrano behind the Canadian defense with a long-distance pass that saw him skate in uncontested for a shot that beat Murray but rang off the right post and away from goal.

With 5:30 to play in the frame, Kunin generated another scoring opportunity, this time firing a long-ranged shot from the blue line that sailed just right of goal. The U.S. was able to regain possession and create another scoring play, this time off the stick of Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y.) but his attempt was also turned aside.

Jared McCann extended Canada's lead to 3-0 with 4:01 to go in the second period when he took a feed from Turris and beat Schneider high, blocker-side.

Neither team was able to convert in the final 20 minutes of play as the U.S. fell, 3-0, for just its second loss of the tournament.

Photos

NOTES: Cory Schneider was named the U.S. Player of the game ... For complete game statistics, click here ... For complete coverage of the U.S. Men’s National Team, visit teamusa.usahockey.com/2019mensworlds … The official IIHF home of the 2019 IIHF Men’s World Championship is 2019.IIHFWorlds.com.

Pre-game Information

U.S. Game Schedule

Final Statistics

Date	Opponent/Round	Time (Local/ET)/Result	Location	Television	U.S. Player of the Game
Tues., May 7	Germany Pre-Tournament	W, 5-2	SAP Arena Mannheim, Germany	Live Stream	Johnny Gaudreau
Fri., May 10	Slovakia Preliminary	L, 1-4	Steel Arena Kosice, Slovakia	NHL Network	Jack Eichel
Sun., May 12	France Preliminary	W, 7-1	Steel Arena Kosice, Slovakia	NHL Network	Alex DeBrincat
Mon., May 13	Finland Preliminary	OTW, 3-2	Steel Arena Kosice, Slovakia	NHL Network	Brady Skjei
Wed., May 15	Great Britain Preliminary	W, 6-3	Steel Arena Kosice, Slovakia	NHL Network	Patrick Kane
Sat., May 18	Denmark Preliminary	W, 7-1	Steel Arena Kosice, Slovakia	NHL Network	Dylan Larkin
Sun., May 19	Germany Preliminary	W, 3-1	Steel Arena Kosice, Slovakia	NHL Network	Alec Martinez
Tues., May 21	Canada Preliminary	L, 0-3	Steel Arena Kosice, Slovakia	NHL Network	Cory Schneider
Thurs., May 23	Russia Quarterfinal	L, 3-4	Ondrej Nepela Arena Bratislava, Slovakia	NHL Network	Jack Hughes