BUFFALO, N.Y. — Brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo./Boston Univ.) and Casey Mittelstadt (Eden Prairie, Minn./University of Minnesota) both scored, but the U.S. National Junior Team fell to Slovakia, 3-2, here tonight in its second preliminary round game of the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship at KeyBank Center.
“Give Slovakia a ton of credit for their game plan and execution,” said Bob Motzko, head coach of the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team. “That said, at the end of the day it came down to our ability to execute. We hit a few posts, missed some open looks, the puck just didn’t bounce our way tonight. The great thing is we get to wake up tomorrow and get back at it right away in what we expect is going to be a tremendous environment.”
Team USA (1-0-0-1/W-OTW-OTL-L) will play Canada tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. ET at New Era Field in the first outdoor game in IIHF world championship history. Tickets for that game, as well as all other tournament games, are available here, and the game will be broadcast live on NHL Network.
For the complete game recap, click here.
2018 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship
Team USA Schedule – Dec. 26, 2017 – Jan. 5, 2018 – Buffalo, New York
Date Opponent Time (ET)
Result Broadcast
Tickets Location
Wed., Dec. 20 Belarus
Pre-Tournament W, 14-0 HockeyTV.com Northwest Arena
Jamestown, N.Y.
Fri., Dec. 22 Sweden
Pre-Tournament W, 3-1 HockeyTV.com Erie Insurance Arena
Erie, Pa.
Tues., Dec. 26 Denmark
Preliminary Round W, 9-0 NHL Network KeyBank Center
Buffalo, N.Y.
Thurs., Dec. 28 Slovakia
Preliminary Round L, 2-3 NHL Network KeyBank Center
Buffalo, N.Y.
Fri., Dec. 29 Canada
Preliminary Round 3:00 p.m. NHL Network
Tickets New Era Field
Orchard Park, N.Y.
Sun., Dec. 31
Finland
Preliminary Round 4:00 p.m. NHL Network
Tickets KeyBank Center
Buffalo, N.Y.
Tues., Jan. 2 TBD
Quarterfinals TBD NHL Network
Tickets KeyBank Center
Buffalo, N.Y.
Thurs., Jan. 4 TBD
Semifinals TBD NHL Network
Tickets KeyBank Center
Buffalo, N.Y.
Fri., Jan. 5 TBD
Bronze Medal Game 4:00 p.m. NHL Network
Tickets KeyBank Center
Buffalo, N.Y.
TBD
Gold Medal Game 8:00 p.m. NHL Network
Tickets KeyBank Center
Buffalo, N.Y.
NOTES: Brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo./Boston University) was named the U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. outshot Slovakia, 45-25, went 0-for-2 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. For complete box score, click here … The U.S. will play in the first ever outdoor game in tournament history when it takes on Canada at New Era Field tomorrow, Dec. 29. Tickets for that game, as well as all other tournament games, are available here … Jim Johannson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) is serving as the general manager of Team USA for the ninth consecutive year … Bob Motzko (St. Cloud, Minn.) is serving as head coach for the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team and joined behind the bench by assistant coaches Greg Brown (Scituate, Mass.), Grant Potulny (Grand Forks, N.D.), Kris Mayotte (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Steve Miller (Littleton, Colo.) … USA Hockey’s international council, chaired by Gavin Regan (Potsdam, N.Y.), vice president of USA Hockey, has oversight responsibilities for all U.S. national teams … All U.S. games will be broadcast live on NHL Network.
