COLOGNE, Germany – The U.S. and Italy will meet today at 4:15 p.m. (live on NBCSN; live stream on NBC Sports app and at NBCSports.com) at LANXESS Arena in its fourth of seven preliminary round games at the IIHF Men’s World Championship.
The U.S. is coming off wins in its last two outings, including an impressive 4-3 decision over Sweden on Monday night and a 7-2 victory over Denmark on Sunday afternoon.
Nick Schmaltz, who was knocked out of Monday’s game against Sweden on a blindside hit by Gabriel Landeskog in the first minute of the game, is day-to-day and will not play this afternoon.
The U.S. and Italy have met just seven times previously in the world championship. The last time, incidentally, was in Cologne in 2010 in the relegation round with the U.S. earning a 3-2 shootout victory. All-time, the U.S. has a 4-1-0-2-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) series advantage.
Team USA faced Italy in Milan just more than a week ago in its lone exhibition game in advance of the world championship. With 13 different players contributing points, the U.S. earned a 5-2 victory.
After today’s contest, Team USA will have two days off before facing Latvia on Friday.
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USA vs. Italy Series History
Date Round Result GF-GA
5/18/10 Relegation OTW (SO) 3-2
4/27/02 Preliminary W 5-2
5/10/98 Relegation L 0-4
4/30/97 Preliminary W 4-2
4/28/92 Preliminary W 1-0
4/16/82 Preliminary L 5-7
2/3/39 Preliminary W 5-0
DATE | OPPONENT | Result | ARENA | LOCATION |
---|---|---|---|---|
May 2 | Italy (exh.) | W, 5-2 | Agora Arena | Milan, Italy |
May 5 | Germany | L, 1-2 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 7 | Denmark | W, 7-2 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 8 | Sweden | W, 4-3 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 10 | Italy | W, 3-0 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 13 | Latvia | W, 5-3 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 14 | Slovakia | W, 6-1 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 16 | Russia | W, 5-3 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 18 | Finland (quarterfinal) | L, 0-2 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |