OSTRAVA, Czech Republic – Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass./Boston University) scored with :28 remaining in the five-minute overtime period to help the U.S. Men’s National Team defeat Slovakia, 5-4, here today before a sellout crowd of 8,812 at CEZ Arena. The game was the last in the preliminary round of the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship for both teams.
With the win, the United States has won Group B and will face fourth-seeded Switzerland from Group A on Thursday (May 14) in quarterfinal play. Opening faceoff is set for 3:15 p.m. (9:15 a.m. ET) at CEZ Arena in Ostrava and the game will be broadcast live in the U.S. on NBCSN and also streamed live via NBC Sports Live Extra.
“It was a really great environment tonight,” said Todd Richards, head coach of the 2015 U.S. Men’s National Team. “We started well, had a lapse in the second period and finished the game strong. A credit to our players. We won the group and now we’ll get ready for Switzerland.”
Ben Smith (Avon, Conn./San Jose Sharks) opened the scoring for the U.S. just 2:36 into the contest with his first goal of the tournament. The play began when Mark Arcobello (Milford, Conn./Arizona Coyotes) collected the puck in the left corner and sent it back to John Moore (Winnetka, Ill./Arizona Coyotes), whose blast from the point was deflected by Smith past Slovakia goaltender Jan Laco.
Seth Jones (Plano, Texas/Nashville Predators) made it 2-0 less than two minutes later when he finished a nice cross-ice feed from Eichel 48 seconds into Team USA’s first power play of the game. Trevor Lewis (Salt Lake City, Utah/Los Angeles Kings) collected an assist on the play for his team-leading sixth assist of the tournament. The goal prompted Slovakia to swap goaltenders and bring in Julius Hudacek.
The U.S. extended its lead to 3-0 just :27 into the second frame when Justin Faulk’s (South St. Paul, Minn./Carolina Hurricanes) shot was tipped past Hudacek by Anders Lee (Edina, Minn./New York Islanders). Slovakia got on the board with a power play goal 6:29 into the period when Marian Gaborik deflected in Vladimir Dravecky’s shot from the right circle. Adam Janosik made it 3-2 four minutes later when his shot went off Brock Nelson’s (Warroad, Minn./New York Islanders) stick and past Hellebuyck. Dravecky evened the score with 3:20 remaining before Milan Bartovic’s breakaway tally a minute later gave Slovakia a 4-3 lead. Charlie Coyle (East Weymouth, Mass./Minnesota Wild), appearing in just his second game since joining Team USA over the weekend, deflected Zach Reymond’s (Traverse City, Mich./Colorado Avalanche) shot from the point with :51 remaining in the period to even the score, 4-4.
The U.S. controlled play in the third period and outshot Slovakia, 9-2, but did not score.
That set the stage from Eichel, the youngest player in the tournament. He collected a loose puck on the left wall, circled toward the point, and with Lewis providing a screen in front, threw a shot on net that found the back of the net with just :28 left in the extra session.
Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich./St. John’s) made 21 saves for the U.S. to record his fifth win of the world championship.
NOTES: Anders Lee was named the U.S. Player of the Game … A total of 10 different players got on the scoresheet, led by Jack Eichel (1-1–2) and Anders Lee (1-1–2) … The current world championship format was started in 2012 with two groups of eight teams playing round robin with the top four in each group advancing to the quarterfinals. Prior to this year, the U.S. had never won its group in this format … The U.S. finished group play with a record of 5-1-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L). Team USA has won at least six games in the world championship in three of the last four years and six times overall.
Team USA 2015 IIHF Men’s World Championship Schedule/Results
May 1-17 • Ostrava, Czech Republic
Date Opponent Venue
Time (Local/EDT)/Result
Tues., April 28 Austria (ex.) Eissportzentrum Kagran W, 4-1
Fri., May 1 Finland CEZ Arena W, 5-1
Sat., May 2 Norway CEZ Arena W, 2-1
Mon., May 4 Russia CEZ Arena W, 4-2
Thurs., May 7 Belarus CEZ Arena L, 2-5
Fri., May 8 Denmark CEZ Arena W, 1-0
Sun., May 10 Slovenia CEZ Arena W, 3-1
Tues., May 12 Slovakia CEZ Arena W, 5-4 OT
Thurs., May 14 Switzerland (quarterfinal) CEZ Arena 3:15 p.m./9:15 a.m.
Sat., May 16 Semifinals O2 Arena TBD
Sun., May 17 Medal Round Game O2 Arena TBD
*Eissportzentrum Kagran in Vienna, Austria; CEZ Arena in Ostrava, Czech Republic; O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.
