U.S. Falls to Russia, 4-3, in Men's Worlds Quarterfinal

Patrick Kane (Buffalo, New York) and Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla.) each had a pair of assists and Cory Schneider (Marblehead, Mass.) made 39 saves, but the U.S. Men's National Team fell to Russia, 4-3, in its quarterfinal game of the 2019 IIHF Men’s World Championship.

“I thought overall we played our best game of the tournament,” 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. “It's tough to get in the early hole we did against a team like Russia, who is as good of a team as I've seen here over the last three years, but we really dug in and played a great second and third especially. We had a terrific group and while we're disappointed, the future of hockey in our country is bright."

The U.S. finished the tournament with wins in five of eight games (4-1-0-3/w-otw-otl-l) and has gone 19-7 over the last three world championships.

Russia took an early 1-0 lead after Nikita Gusev knocked in a loose puck 1:07 into the game. Team USA goaltender Schneider made the initial save off a shot from Mikhail Sergachyov but the puck trickled through his legs and Gusev tapped it in for the game’s opening goal.

With 10 minutes erased off the clock in the first period, both Russia and the United States pushed the pace in search of the game’s next goal. After Russia rang a shot off the post on a 2-on-1 scoring opportunity, James van Riemsdyk (Middletown, N.J.) had a chance to get Team USA on the board with just over eight minutes to play, but his shot was blocked by Russia’s defense. Less than a minute later, Schneider made a crucial save off a shot from right in front to keep the U.S. within one.

Russia extended its lead to 2-0 when Sergachyov’s shot from the point deflected off multiple defenders and landed in the top-right corner of the net with 4:13 to play in the frame.

Kane nearly responded for the U.S. a minute later when he scooped up the puck in the defensive zone, skated the length of the ice and fired a shot on target that was turned aside by Russia’s net minder Andrei Vasilevskiy.

With time expiring in the first stanza, Team USA was able to generate a flurry of chances but entered the intermission trailing Russia, 2-0.

The U.S. opened the second period the way it finished the first by generating another flurry of chances that ended with Brady Skjei (Lakeville, Minn.) cutting Team USA’s deficit to one 2:22 into the frame. Johnny Gaudreau (Salem, N.J.) and Kane started the play with each seeing their scoring chances denied before Kane collected the puck at the top of the zone and sent a cross-ice feed to Skjei for a shot that tipped past Vasilevskiy and into the net.

Schneider came up big again for Team USA after he denied Alexander Ovechkin of a scoring chance seven minutes into the second. He followed that up with another pivotal save just moments later.

Luke Kunin (Chesterfield, Mo.) almost evened the score for the U.S. when he joined the rush right off the bench but saw his one-timer denied. Gaudreau followed that up with back-to-back scoring chances of his own that were also turned aside.

With five minutes to go in the stanza, Schneider was called upon again with a pair of back-to-back saves. Two minutes later, Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass.) ignited the offense for a series of chances to close out the frame, but Russia was able to hold a 2-1 advantage heading into the third.

The third period opened with Russia regaining a two-goal lead off a goal from Kirill Kaprizov 1:31 into the stanza.

The U.S. again clawed its way back within one when Noah Hanifin (Norwood, Mass.) responded 4:22 later. Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla.) started the play by intercepting a pass at the Russia blueline, curling away from an oncoming defender and dishing the puck back to Hanifin who rifled a wrist shot over Vasilevskiy's glove to make it a one-goal game.

Russia responded just over a minute later when Mikhail Grigorenko converted on an odd-man rush to push the score to 4-2.

Just moments later, a scrum in front nearly ended with Kane bringing the U.S. back within one, but his chance at the back-post wouldn't go.

With 2:50 to play in regulation and Schneider pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Alex DeBrincat (Farmington Hills, Mich.) fired a one-timer past Vasilevskiy to cut Russia's lead to 4-3.

The U.S. pulled Schneider a second time in the final 90 seconds, but despite some pressure could not find the equalizer.

Highlights

Photos

NOTES: Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla.) was named the U.S. Player of the game ... Russia had a 43-32 shots on goal advantage. Team USA was 0-1 on the power play while Russia scored on its lone power play attempt ... For complete game statistics, click here ... Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y.), Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) and Ryan Suter (Madison, Wis.) were name Team USA's Top-3 Players of the Tournament ... 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