The U.S. Men's National Team faces Germany this afternoon in its third preliminary round game of the 2018 IIHF Men's World Championship here in Herning, Denmark. Puck drop is set for 4:15 p.m. local time (10:15 a.m. ET) at the Jyske Bank Boxen and will be televised live in the U.S. exclusively on NHL Network.
Including last year's 6-0-0-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record, the U.S. is now 7-1-0-2 in 10 games under head coach Jeff Blashill. The U.S. has also won its first two tournament games for the seventh time in its last 10 Men's World Championships.
The United States enters the 2018 IIHF Men's World Championship seeking its 12th tournament medal and first since 2016, when it claimed a bronze medal. All-time, the U.S. has won gold once (1933), silver four times (1950, 1939, 1934, 1931) and bronze six times (2015, 2013, 2004, 1996, 1952, 1949).
THINGS WORTH MENTIONING
Team USA is the home team and will be wearing blue ... Including last year's tournament, the U.S. has won eight of its last nine tournament games, its best stretch since winning 12 of 14 across the 1931, 1933 and 1934 tournaments (no tournament in 1932) ... After today's game, the U.S. will have two days off before back-to-back games Thursday and Friday (May 10 and 11) against Latvia and Korea ... Patrick Kane leads Team USA in international points with 45 (18-27) in 38 games across IIHF, Olympic and World Cup of Hockey play. Dylan Larkinis second with 33 points (13-20) in 41 games and Johnny Gaudreauis third with 32 points (16-16) in 25 outings ... Keith Kinkaid's 40 save performance against Canada was the most by a U.S. netminder since May 6, 2011, when Ty Conklin turned aside 48 shots in a 4-3 preliminary round shootout loss to Canada.
THE SERIES VS. GERMANY
The two teams have met 16 times previously in the world championship, with the U.S. holding an 8-0-1-4-3 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) series advantage. Last year, Germany edged the U.S. by a 2-1 count in preliminary round play at the world championship.
A year ago, Connor Murphy (Dublin, Ohio) scored and Jimmy Howard (Syracuse, N.Y.) made 25 saves, but the U.S. fell to Germany, 2-1, in last year's tournament-opening game.
The U.S. and Germany met in the tournament opening game of the 2010 IIHF Men's World Championship, where Germany claimed a 2-1 overtime win before a then world-record crowd of 77,803 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
GROUP B STANDINGS
Entering day four of tournament play, each team in Group B has played two games apiece. Finland leads the group with six points and two regulation wins while the U.S. is second with five points. All of Group B's preliminary round games are taking place at Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark.
TEAM | GP | PTS | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA |
FIN | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 |
USA | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 |
CAN | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 5 |
NOR | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
GER | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
DEN | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
LAT | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
KOR | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 18 |
TOP 3 U.S. SCORERS FROM 2017 CONTINUE TO PERFORM
A year ago, Team USA's top three point scorers were Johnny Gaudreau (Salem, N.J.), Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) and Ander's Lee (Edina, Minn.). Through two games this year, all three have chipped in as Gaudreau and Larkin each have two points while Lee tallied Team USA's first goal of the tournament.
Player | Tournament | GP | G | A | PTS |
Johnny Gaudreau | 2017 MWC | 8 | 6 | 5 | 11 |
2018 MWC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
TOTALS | 10 | 7 | 6 | 13 | |
Dylan Larkin | 2017 MWC | 8 | 2 | 8 | 10 |
2018 MWC | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
TOTALS | 10 | 4 | 8 | 12 | |
Anders Lee | 2017 MWC | 8 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
2018 MWC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
TOTALS | 10 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
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 |