Charlie Lindgren and Ryan Leonard The successful season is officially over.
The U.S. team was eliminated from the World Cup quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon in a close 1-0 loss to the Czech Republic. Playing in front of their home fans, the Czechs got the victory on a power-play goal by Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha 6:39 into the second period.
Lindgren, who made 27 saves despite allowing the runs, was named the U.S. Player of the Year after the loss.
Outside of Zacha’s goal, Lindgren was impressive, helping the U.S. stay in the game after missing early chances and failing to score, while Anaheim Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal tossed a 36-save shutout for the Czech Republic.
Lindegren started two games in the tournament, posting a 1-1 record with a 2.03 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. Lindegren took over as the starter for the Detroit Red Wings prospect Trey Augustin and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Alex Nedeljkovic after original starter Alex Lyon was sidelined with an injury early in the group stage.
The 30-year-old catcher initially turned down an invitation to play in the tournament but changed his mind a few weeks later.
Leonard played in Thursday’s game but was never substituted by head coach John Hynes. Overall, he appeared in six of the team’s eight games, primarily as a reserve forward. Hynes gave Leonard just 5 minutes, 37 seconds of ice time per game and he had one assist.
The Boston College star played one more game (6) than the other two young college forwards on the team, Will Smith (5) and Gavin Brindley (5), and also recorded an assist in the team’s only tune-up game before the tournament began.
The Czechs will face Sweden in the semifinals after Sweden beat Finland 2-1 in overtime on Thursday. The U.S. loss and Martin Fehervari’s loss to Slovakia early Thursday meant the Capitals were eliminated from this year’s tournament.
