EDMONTON, Alta. -- The U.S. National Junior Team scored twice on the power play and fired 54 total shots on net, but eventually fell to the Czech Republic, 5-2, this afternoon at Rexall Place.

With the loss, Team USA falls to 1-0-0-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L) overall at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship. The U.S. will face Canada tomorrow (Dec. 31) in its final preliminary-round game of the tournament. The game, to be televised on NHL Network U.S., will start at 8:00 p.m. EST.

"I'm extremely disappointed, but am still focused on tomorrow's game," said Dean Blais, head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. "Our players have a lot of pride, and we will be ready to go tomorrow."

Team USA took a 1-0 lead at 5:14 of the first period on the power play. J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio/Plymouth Whalers) fed a pass from the left circle across the slot to T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill./Univ. of Notre Dame), who tapped the puck into a wide open net for his first goal of the tournament. But the Czech Republic scored to even the score at 1-1 after one period.

Team USA regained a one-goal lead midway through the second when Bill Arnold (Needham, Mass./Boston College) fired home a rebound off of a shot by Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev./Univ. of Denver). The Czech Republic responded once again, however, sending the game into the third period tied, 2-2.

Midway through the third period, Josh Archibald (Brainerd, Minn./Univ. of Nebraska Omaha) earned a penalty shot when he was tripped while driving to the net. Czech Republic goalie Petr Mrazek made a save on Archibald's penalty shot attempt, however, keeping the game tied, 2-2.

The Czech Republic went on to score three times, including an empty-net tally late, to secure the victory. Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich./Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) made 24 saves, while Mrazek stopped 52 shots in the win.

NOTES: Bill Arnold was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... Team USA finished 2-for-7 on the power play, while the Czech Republic was 0-for-3 with the man advantage ... In other tournament action later today, Sweden will take on Slovakia, Finland will face off against Denmark, and Switzerland will play Latvia. Should Finland defeat Denmark in regulation, the U.S. would finish in fourth place in Group B regardless of tomorrow's outcome against Canada ... Dean Blais, head men's ice hockey coach at the University of Nebraska Omaha, is serving as head coach of the 2012 U.S. National Junior Team. He is assisted by Scott Sandelin, head men's ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota Duluth; Tom Ward, head ice hockey coach of the Shattuck-St. Mary's School's boys' prep team; and Joe Exter, assistant men's ice hockey coach at Ohio State University ... Jim Johannson, USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey operations, is serving as the general manager of Team USA for the third consecutive year. Tim Taylor (Guilford, Conn.), former U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team head coach and longtime Yale University men's ice hockey team head coach, is also serving his third straight year as Team USA's director of player personnel ... The U.S. National Junior Team blog will provide daily updates with game recaps, photos and multimedia content. The blog can be found here ... Use the hashtag #USAWJC to join the conversation on Twitter.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

CZE 1 - 1 - 3 - 5
USA 1 - 1 - 0 - 2

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Tynan (Miller, Arnold), 5:14 (pp), 2, CZE, Filippi (Pribyl, Riha), 12:05. Penalties: CZE, Straka (boarding, game misconduct), 2:21; CZE, Hyka (hooking), 9:08; CZE, Zamorsky (high-sticking, double minor), 18:02.

Second Period - Scoring: 3, USA, Arnold (Zucker, Merrill), 11:50 (pp); 4, CZE, Hertyl (unassisted), 14:51. Penalties: USA, Clendening (boarding), 6:07; CZE, Team (too-many-men), 10:50; CZE, Riha (high-sticking), 15:35; USA, Merrill (tripping), 16:26; CZE, Hrbas (interference), 18:11.

Third Period - Scoring: 5, CZE, Holik (Sekac, Krejci), 12:26; 6, CZE, Filippi (Nosek), 17:19; 7, CZE, Holik (unassisted), 18:34 (en). Penalties: USA, Rau (slashing), 4:56; CZE, Riha (tripping, penalty shot), 11:27.

Power Play: CZE 0-3; USA 2-7
Penalties: CZE 9-37; USA 3-6
Officials: Referees - Brent Reiber (SUI), Jyri Petteri Ronn (FIN); Linesmen: Kiel Murchison (CAN), Dmitry Sivov (RUS)
Attendance: 14,733

*All games in Edmonton will be played at Rexall Place. All games in Calgary will be played at Scotiabank Saddledome.
^Pre-tournament game