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U.S. Falls 5-1 to Canada in Hlinka Gretzky Cup Semifinals

By USA Hockey, 08/10/24, 12:30AM EDT

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Team USA To Play Sweden in the Third-Place Game Tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. ET Live On NHL Network

EDMONTON, Alberta – Sam Spehar (Chaska, Minn.) scored his team-leading third goal of the tournament as the U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team fell 5-1 to Canada in the semifinals of the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup at Rogers Place. 

Team USA will play Sweden in the third-place game tomorrow (August 10) at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will broadcast live on NHL Network.

“We played a very good team, and they took advantage of our mistakes,” said Garrett Raboin (Detroit Lakes, Minn.), head coach of the 2024 U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team. “We have an opportunity to bounce back tomorrow, and it’s important we leave it all out on the ice.”

Canada opened the scoring on the power play with 4:55 remaining in the first stanza when a shot from Matthew Schaefer ricochetted off the boards behind the U.S. goal to Cameron Schmidy waiting on the back door, who batted home a one-timer to take a 1-0

GAME PHOTOS

Alex Huang doubled the Canada lead three minutes into the second when he received a breakout pass while leaving the penalty box and skated in all alone on goal, finishing with a short side wrister. 

Just 35 seconds later, Spehar answered for the U.S. to make it a 2-1 game, rifling a shot under the blocker of Canadian goaltender Jack Ivankovic on a three-on-one opportunity. 

Cole Reschny added to the tally for Canada with 4:41 to play in the middle frame, capitalizing with a wrist shot from the left circle.

With 1:15 remaining in the second, Ryan Cameron (Berwyn, Pa.) shut down a breakaway chance for Gavin McKenna with his left pad to keep the U.S. within two goals.  

Luca Romano tallied an empty net goal with 2:24 remaining in the contest, and McKenna scored a power play with 12 seconds to play to account for the 5-1 final. 

Cameron stopped 30 shots in goal for Team USA. 

NOTES:  The U.S. had 29 shots on goal, while Canada had 35 … Team USA was 0-3 on the power play, while Canada was 2-2 … Blake Fiddler (Frisco, Texas) was named U.S. Player of the Game

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