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Game Day: U.S. Faces Czechia In Battle Of Upper Division Teams In Group B

By USA Hockey, 05/23/22, 12:15AM EDT

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Puck drop is set for 9:20 a.m. ET on NHL Network

TAMPERE, Finland – The U.S. and Czechia meet today in the sixth of seven preliminary round games for both teams in the 2022 IIHF Men’s World Championship. Opening faceoff is set for 4:20 p.m. (9:20 a.m. ET) and the game can be seen live on NHL Network. Game statistics can be found here

“It should be a really good game,” said David Quinn, head coach of the U.S Men’s National Team. “I liked how we played against Sweden and we’ll look to build on that.”

A point in today’s game will guarantee Team USA a spot in the quarterfinals.

Czechia and the U.S. are tied for third place in Group B, each with 10 points. The tournament includes two eight-team groups and the top four from both advance to play a cross-over quarterfinal round. The top two teams in Group B will remain in Tampere to play their quarterfinal game, while the third and fourth-place teams will travel to Helsinki to play. The semifinals and medal games will take place in Tampere.

The Czechs opened the world championship with a win over Great Britain (5-1), before losses to Sweden (5-3), and Austria in a shootout (2-1). They have won their last two contests, including a 5-1 victory over Latvia and 4-1 triumph over Norway.

The U.S. beat Latvia (4-1) and Austria (3-2 OT) to open the tournament; lost to Finland (4-1) and rebounded with wins over Great Britain (3-0) and Sweden (3-2 OT).

THE SERIES

The U.S. and Czechia have met 16 previous times in the IIHF Men’s World Championship and the U.S. holds a 6-2-1-6-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) advantage. The teams last met in 2018 with the U.S. earning a 3-2 win in the tournament quarterfinals on May 17. Team USA has won the last three meetings in the series. Four of the last five meetings between the two teams have been in the quarterfinals with the other in the bronze-medal game. The last preliminary round meeting came in 2007 with the Czechs gaining a 4-3 win. Nine of the last 12 meetings have been decided by a single goal.

Forwards Ryan Hartman and Matt Boldy arrived in Finland Sunday and are expected to be in the lineup today. Hartman had a career-best 65 points, including 34 goals and 31 assists in 82 regular-season games for the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, while Boldy played in 47 regular-season games with Minnesota and registered 15-24—39.

Jeremy Swayman is the likely starter in goal today for Team USA. The Anchorage, Alaska, native had a 17-save shutout in his world championship debut on May 19 in a 3-0 triumph over Great Britain. He then made 20 saves on 22 shots in backstopping the U.S. to a 3-2 overtime victory over Sweden on May 21. Swayman played college hockey at the University of Maine and previous to that competed for the Sioux Falls Stampede in the USHL.

Following today’s game, the U.S. will finish play in the preliminary round tomorrow against Norway at 4:20 p.m. (9:20 a.m. ET) and NHL Network will broadcast the action live.

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