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U.S. Falls to Finland, 6-2, To Close 2018 MWC Prelims

By USAHockey.com, 05/15/18, 6:30AM EDT

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U.S. Finishes Second in Group B as Kane set two U.S. records; U.S. will meet the Czech Republic in Quarterfinals on Thursday (May 17)

HERNING, Denmark – Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Derek Ryan (Spokane, Wash.) both scored but the 2018 U.S. Men's National Team fell to Finland, 6-2, in its final preliminary round game of the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Championship. With a goal and an assist tonight, Kane has now set U.S. records for both points (17) and assists (11) in a single Men’s World Championship.

“I thought we came out and played good hockey at the start of the game before a few bounces didn’t go our way and that was the real difference,” said Jeff Blashill, head coach of the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team. “We’ve said from the start that we want to learn and improve every game, and you can’t do that without facing some adversity. It’s important for us to learn from this and build as we turn our attention to Thursday and facing a real good Czech team.”

The United States (4-2-0-1/W-OTW-OTL-L), which finished second in Group B play, will meet the Czech Republic in Thursday’s (May 17) quarterfinals at a time yet to be determined. The game will be televised live on NHL Network.

Brian Gibbons (Braintree, Mass.) nearly opened the scoring three minutes into the game when his shot from below the left faceoff dot was gloved aside by Finnish netminder Harri Sateri. Another three minutes later, Kane saw a shot off a bouncing puck in front of goal get denied as the U.S. continued to sustain pressure.

With 9:43 left in the first, Finland scored when Sebastian Aho’s shot from the left side of the net slid beneath Keith Kinkaid (Farmingville, N.Y.) for the game’s opening goal.

Finland doubled its lead with 2:45 remaining when a dump-in pass from the blue line took a strange bounce off the glass and into the crease where Aho tapped in his second goal of the game.

The second period started with a U.S. power play that saw Kane and Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) partner together for another quality scoring chance that couldn’t find the back of the net.

Finland then scored with 2:09 left in the second when Mikko Rantanen scored on a rebound off a shot from the point, bringing the score to 3-0 after two periods. 

In the third period, Marko Antilla furthered the Finnish lead 7:42 into the period when Kinkaid’s initial save on a shot from the left side bounced on Antilla’s stick for the tap-in goal.

Kane put Team USA on the board with he scored on the power play off a faceoff win by Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn.), bringing the score to 4-1 with 8:27 remaining in the game. 

Just over two minutes later, Finland made it 5-1 when Kasperi Kapanen tallied on a man-advantage opportunity with 6:03 left in regulation.

Ryan converted just :44 later when he batted the puck out of the air off a Kane deflection, bringing the score to 5-2 before Aho tallied an empty-netter with 3:15 to play to account for the 6-2 final.

NOTES: Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn.) was named the U.S. Player of the Game ... For complete game stats, click here … 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