KRAVARE, Czech Republic – Matthew Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.) and Charlie McAvoy (Long Beach, N.Y.) both scored one goal and added one assist, but the U.S. National Under-18 Team fell in overtime to Russia, 5-4, here today. With the loss, the U.S. is now 0-1-1-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) in the 2015 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament.
Team USA opened the scoring five minutes into the game when Tkachuk scored on a power play. Following a turnover just inside the offensive blue line, Joe Masonius (Spring Lake, N.J.) threaded a pass to McAvoy at the right point. McAvoy stopped the pass, looked up and fired towards the net. Tkachuk swooped in and redirected the shot through Russian goaltender Ilya Samsonov’s legs to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead. Team Russia collected three goals in the final 12:40 of the frame – including two on the man-advantage – to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
The score remained deadlocked at 3-1 until Russia drew a penalty shot and scored on the attempt with 5:24 to play in the second stanza to build its lead to 4-1. The U.S. answered before the end of the period, though, as Nick Boka (Plymouth, Mich.) found the back of the net from the slot to pull Team USA within a pair of goals. With the puck bouncing high in the zone, Auston Matthews (Scottsdale, Ariz.) slapped it deep to Jack Roslovic (Columbus, Ohio). Roslovic waited, moved towards the circle and touched a pass onto the stick of Boka wheeling up the middle of the slot. Boka quickly gathered the puck and shot it into the top corner for a power-play tally.
The U.S. used a strong power play to equal the score just 5:12 into the third frame. With the United States skating on a five-on-three man-advantage, Luke Kunin (Chesterfield, Mo.) slipped to the left dot, found a lane and hit his spot to make it 4-3. Then, just 40 seconds later, McAvoy executed a pretty give-and-go with Grant Gabriele (Brighton, Mich.), which ended with McAvoy one-timing a Gabriele pass into the top right corner to tie the game at 4-4. Despite heavy pressure and a 23-3 advantage in shots on goal in the third, the U.S. couldn’t strike for the game-winner, and the Russians converted on a power play in overtime to end the contest.
Michael Lackey (Washington, D.C.) started in goal for Team USA and made 15 saves.
The U.S. National Under-18 Team continues play in the U18 Five Nations Tournament tomorrow (Feb. 7) when it battles Finland. Opening face-off is slated for 10 a.m. ET.
Notes: Team USA outshot Russia, 55-20 … The U.S. went 4-8 on the power play while Russia went 3-10 … Follow @USANTDP for additional tournament coverage following the event and join the conversation by using the #U18FiveNations tag … Don Granato, head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team, is leading the squad in the Czech Republic, along with assistant coach Nick Fohr and intern assistant coach J.D. Forrest … All 22 players on the roster are from USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program … For the complete Under-18 Team roster, click here … The U.S. National Under-17 Team trains with The Hockey IntelliGym, a revolutionary software program that trains hockey sense. To learn more, visit USAHockeyIntelliGym.com.
2015 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament
Feb. 4-8 | Kravare and Poruba, Czech Republic
Date Opponent Time (ET)
Wed., Feb. 4 Sweden W, 5-4 (SO)
Fri., Feb. 6 Russia L, 4-5 (OT)
Sat., Feb. 7 Finland 10:00 a.m.
Sun., Feb. 8 Czech Republic 12:00 p.m.
