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U.S. Defeats Norway, 9-3, to Remain Unbeaten at 2018 MWC

By USAHockey.com, 05/13/18, 10:30AM EDT

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Kane scores twice; U.S. closes preliminary round vs. Finland Tuesday (May 15) at 6:15 a.m. ET

HERNING, Denmark – Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y.), Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn.) and Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) each tallied three points as the 2018 U.S. Men's National Team earned a 9-3 win over Norway in its sixth preliminary round game of the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Championship.

“Everyone contributed tonight and that’s important for us to have success in a tournament like this,” said Jeff Blashill, head coach of the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team. “Tonight was about improving small areas of our game and I think we saw that over the course of the game. There’s one game left before the quarterfinals, so it’s important we wrap up our preliminary round with a solid effort on Tuesday.”

The United States (4-2-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) closes the preliminary round Tuesday (May 15) when it takes on Finland. Puck drop is set for 12:15 p.m. local time (6:15 a.m. ET) live on NHL Network. With its win tonight, the U.S. guarantees a top-two finish in Group B and will meet either the third or fourth seed from Group A in quarterfinal play on Thursday (May 17).

Kane opened the scoring for Team USA on the power play 8:24 into the contest. The play started when Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn.) fed the puck towards the blue line where Charlie McAvoy (Long Beach, N.Y.) found Kane beneath the right faceoff dot where he was able to tuck a one-timer slapshot between the left post and glove of Norwegian netminder Lars Haugen.

The captain converted once again 3:54 later to double the U.S. lead. Less than 18 seconds into Team USA’s second man-advantage, Atkinson fed the puck down to the goal line where Alex DeBrincat (Farmington Hills, Mich.) held on to it before knifing a pass through the slot where Kane one-timed the puck over Haugen’s left pad.

Charlie McAvoy (Long Beach, N.Y.) netted his third goal in his second tournament game to push the score to 3-0 with 4:35 remaining in the opening frame. With the play in Norway’s right corner, McAvoy slid down between the right slot and faceoff dot as DeBrincat skated away from goal before finding McAvoy alone for a one-timer shot that slid through the legs of Haugen.

Just 1:30 into the middle frame, Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) converted for Team USA’s third power-play goal of the game when he batted down a clearing attempt in Norway’s slot, curled towards net and fired a shot over Haugen’s right shoulder to extend Team USA’s lead to 4-0. 

Norway got on the board at the seven-minute mark of the second stanza to make the score 4-1 before Alec Martinez (Rochester Hills, Mich.) scored three minutes later from a sharp angle just below the left circle to give the U.S. a 5-1 lead with 9:22 left in the period.

Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) and Atkinson each scored in the final 3:22 of the period to push the U.S. lead to 7-1 after 40 minutes. Lee’s tally came when he finished a feed from Larkin on a two-on-one rush while Atkinson scored a net-front goal to earn his third point of the game. The goals were back-to-back contributors to U.S. tournament milestones, as Johnny Gaudreau's (Salem, N.J.) assist on Lee's goal marked his 20th career assist in Men's World Championship play, tying Craig Smith for the U.S. career tournament record. Additionally, with an assist on Atkinson's goal, Kane has now registered 10 assists in tournament play, tying the U.S. record for most assists in a single Men's World Championship shared by Max Pacioretty and Smith.

In the final stanza, Colin White (Hanover, Mass.) tapped a bouncing puck across the goal line 2:50 into the frame to make it 8-1 in favor of the U.S. Back-to-back goals from Norway at the 4:05 and 7:09 marks brought the score to 8-3 before Neal Pionk (Hermantown, Minn.) scored his second goal in as many games with 2:33 to play to account for the 9-3 final.

Keith Kinkaid (Farmingville, N.Y.) stopped 15 of 16 shots in two periods for Team USA to earn his fifth victory of the tournament. Scott Darling (Lemont, Ill.) made eight saves in the final period in relief.

NOTES: Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) was named the U.S. Player of the Game ... For the complete game stats, click here ... With two assists tonight, Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) established a new U.S. career record for career assists by telling his 20th and 21st all-time in Men's World Championship play. Johnny Gaudreau's (Salem, N.J.) assist tonight marked his 20th career assist, just one back from Larkin. U.S. captain Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y.) has 10 assists in tournament play, tying the U.S. record for most assists in a single Men's World Championship while  ... Kane leads the tournament in points (15) and assists (10), Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn.) has a tournament-best six goals and Charlie McAvoy (Long Beach, N.Y.) - in just two games played - leads all tournament defensemen with seven points (3-4) ... For the complete roster, click here... Jeff Blashill (Detroit Red Wings) is serving as head coach for the second straight year ... The staff and players of the 2018 U.S. Men's National Team are selected by Bill Zito (Columbus Blue Jackets), general manager of the 2018 U.S. Men's National Team, along with members of the U.S. Men's National Team Advisory Group that includes Stan Bowman (Chicago Blackhawks), David Poile (Nashville Predators), Ray Shero (New Jersey Devils), Dale Tallon (Florida Panthers), and Jeff Gorton (New York Rangers) ... For complete coverage of the U.S. Men’s National Team, visit teamusa.usahockey.com/2018mensworlds … The official online home of the 2018 IIHF Men’s World Championship is 2018.IIHFWorlds.com … The U.S. has finished in the top four of the world championship in three of the last five years ... USA Hockey's international council, chaired by Gavin Regan (Potsdam, N.Y.), has oversight responsibilities for all U.S. national teams ... NHL Network is the exclusive U.S. rightsholder for the tournament. 

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U.S. Schedule

Date Opponent Round Result Location
Tues., May 1 Denmark Exhibition W, 3-2 KVIK Hockey Arena
Herning, Denmark
Fri., May 4 Canada Preliminary W, 5-4 (SO) Jyske Bank Boxen
Herning, Denmark
Sat., May 5 Denmark Preliminary W, 4-0 Jyske Bank Boxen
Herning, Denmark
Mon., May 7 Germany Preliminary W, 3-0 Jyske Bank Boxen
Herning, Denmark
Thurs., May 10 Latvia Preliminary W, 3-2 (OT) Jyske Bank Boxen
Herning, Denmark
Fri., May 11 Korea Preliminary W, 13-1 Jyske Bank Boxen
Herning, Denmark
Sun., May 13 Norway Preliminary W, 9-3 Jyske Bank Boxen
Herning, Denmark
Tues., May 15 Finland Preliminary L, 2-6 Jyske Bank Boxen
Herning, Denmark
Thurs., May 17 Czech Republic Quarterfinals W, 3-2 Jyske Bank Boxen
Herning, Denmark
Sat., May 19 Sweden Semifinals L, 0-6 Royal Arena
Copenhagen, Denmark
Sun., May 20 Canada Bronze-Medal Game W, 4-1 Royal Arena
Copenhagen, Denmark

2018 Men's Worlds News