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2018 MWC Gameday: U.S. Meets Finland In Final Prelim Game

By USAHockey.com, 05/15/18, 3:45AM EDT

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Puck drop set for 6:15 a.m. ET live on NHL Network

The U.S. Men's National Team meets Finland today in its seventh and final preliminary round game of the 2018 IIHF Men's World Championship here in Herning, Denmark. Puck drop is set for 12:15 p.m. local time (6:15 a.m. ET) at the Jyske Bank Boxen and will be televised live in the U.S. exclusively on NHL Network.
    This is the 63rd meeting between the United States and Finland in Men's World Championship play and a rematch of last year's quarterfinal matchup, where Finland won, 2-0. Today's regulation-winner will secure the top seed in Group B.

THINGS WORTH MENTIONING
Team USA is the away team and will wear its white jersey ... Today's game will feature the tournament's top stat producers in nearly every category. For more, see below ... Cam Atkinson (6-4--10), Johnny Gaudreau (1-7--8) and Patrick Kane (5-10--15) have tallied at least one point in every tournament game while Alex DeBrincat (1-7--8) has points in five of the six games ... Overall, 19 of Team USA's 20 skaters have registered at least one point ... All five of Patrick Kane's goals have come on the power play ... Team USA has a tournament-best power play efficiency (.419%) ... The U.S. has won six-straight preliminary round games for the second consecutive year, the only two times it has ever accomplished the feat ... Since its 2-1 tournament-opening loss to Germany on May 5, 2017, the U.S. has claimed 12-straight preliminary round wins in tournament play.

THE SERIES VS. FINLAND
The U.S. holds a 22-1-2-29-8 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) record against Finland. A year ago, the two teams met in the quarterfinal round where Jimmy Howard (Syracuse, N.Y.) made 18 saves as the U.S. outshot Finland, 26-20, but fell, 2-0. The U.S. has won four of the last six meetings.

GROUP B POSITIONING
Entering the final day of preliminary round play, three of the four Group B quarterfinal spots have been claimed, yet final positioning has yet to be decided. 

Team Record Pts Last Game Potential Finish
USA 4-2-0-0 16 Finland 1st; 2nd
Finland 4-0-1-1 13 United States 1st; 2nd; 3rd
Canada 3-1-1-1 11 Germany 2nd; 3rd; 4th
Denmark 3-1-0-2 11 Latvia 2nd; 3rd; 4th; 5th*
Latvia 2-1-2-1 10 Denmark 3rd; 4th; 5th*

*Would miss quarterfinals

LARKIN SETS U.S. RECORD, KANE TIES ANOTHER
With assists in Team USA's 9-3 victory over Norway, alternate captain Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) set a new U.S. record for most assists in Men's World Championship play with 21. Right behind him is Johnny Gaudreau (Salem, N.J.), who holds 20 career assists. Additionally, with two assists against Norway, Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y.) tied Max Pacioretty (2012) and Craig Smith (2013) for the U.S. record for most assists by a U.S. player in a single men's world championship with 10.

U.S.-FINLAND SKATER HIGHLIGHT STAT CATEGORIES
Entering today's game, both the United States and Finland have a number of players atop the tournament's statistic leaders. 
    Among point-getters, U.S. forward Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y.) has a tournament-best 15, Finland's Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen are tied for second with 14, Team USA's Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn.) is sixth with 10 and teammate Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) is tied for ninth with eight. 
    While Aho (FIN) and Atkinson (USA) are tied for the tournament-lead in goals with six goals apiece, Kane (USA) and Teravainen (FIN) are two of five skaters tied for second with five apiece. Additionally, Kane leads all skaters with 10 assists, just above Teravainen's (FIN) nine and Aho's (FIN) eight while U.S. forwards Alex DeBrincat (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and Johnny Gaudreau (Salem, N.J.) are tied for fourth with seven assists each. 
    In net, today's game could very well feature the tournament's top two goaltenders in Team USA's Keith Kinkaid (Farmingville, N.Y.) (4-0; 1.47 GAA; .943 SV%; 2 SO) and Finland's Harri Sateri (3-0; 0.67 GAA; .960 SV%; 1 SO).

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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