Ostrava, Czech Republic – call Caulfield (Stevens Point, Wis./Montreal Canadiens) had two goals and two assists. mat bold (Millis, Massachusetts/Minnesota Wild) and brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Missouri/Ottawa Senators) each had a goal and an assist to lead the United States Men’s National Team to a 6-3 victory today in the final qualifying round game for the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship. The victory marks his fourth straight victory for Team USA, which will take him on Thursday (May 23) to face a yet-to-be-determined opponent in the tournament quarterfinals.
“I liked our level of competition and the way we came out of the gate right away.” John Hynes (Warwick, Rhode Island), head coach of the 2024 U.S. Men’s National Team. “Our penalty kill was exceptional and I thought Charlie (Lindgren) did a great job in net. It was a good game heading into Thursday’s quarterfinals.”
Just 1:23 into the game, Caufield forced a turnover in the neutral zone, giving Team USA a 1-0 lead, before finding Tkachuk with a drop pass at the top of the right circle, who fired a top-shelf laser. decided.
Just over a minute later, Team USA appeared to have a 2-0 lead. Mikey Esimont (Littleton, Colorado/Tampa Bay Lightning) Had three or four chances in the goalmouth by then. Gavin Brindley (Estero, Fla./Columbus Blue Jackets) batted in a loose puck, but the goal was disallowed after a challenge by Latvia.
Zach Werenski (Groe Point, Mich.) took a pass from Caufield in the slot with 6:40 left in the first period and beat Latvian goaltender Christels Gudrevskis with a deft deke and backhand finish for Team USA. We doubled our lead.
At 2:34 into the game, Caufield fired a wrist shot into the top right corner off a no-look feed from Boldy to give the U.S. a 3-0 lead on the power play.
Just a minute later, Renars Krastenbergs scored for Latvia on a one-on-one rush with a wrist shot, making the score 3-1. The Americans completely blocked Latvia’s 5-on-3 power play for two minutes late in the second period, holding a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Just 15 seconds into the third, Boldy slipped a backhand shot from the slot five hole to give Team USA a 4-1 lead.Werensky and Seth Jones (Frisco, Texas/Chicago Blackhawks) Earned help on the play.
Latvia’s Eduards Tralmakus scored from a rebound at 4:44, and just 16 seconds later, Roberts Mamucziks scored with a shot off the American stick, making the lead one point.
With 11:14 remaining, Caufield sank a short side snipe from a wraparound for his second goal of the game, giving Team USA a two-point advantage.
Joel Farabee (Cicero, NY/Philadelphia Flyers) Added an empty net goal in the final minute to make the final score 6-3.
Charlie Lindgren (Lakeville, Minn./Washington Capitals) made 27 net saves in the win.
With this win, the United States finishes the qualifying round with a record of 5-0-1-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) and ranks second in Group B with 16 points. Team USA will meet Thursday (May 23) in the quarterfinals, which will be broadcast live on NHL Network. The quarterfinal pairings, times and locations will be revealed after the final qualifying round matches on the day.
NOTES: Matt Baldy Was named U.S. Player of the Game … Team USA defeated Latvia 43-30 … The U.S. was 1-3 on the power play while Latvia was 0-6 … Team USA has yet to allow a goal on the power play through seven games at the World Championship.
