At the World Championship, Dylan Larkin scored 2 goals and finished at +1 in 15:23, and Nick Jensen finished at -1 in 12:46 played as Team USA defeated Canada 5-4 in a shootout.
IIHF.com’s Andrew Podnieks posted a recap of the game…
[T]he Americans were fortunate to get to the shootout. The five-minute overtime was dominated by Canada, which won all five faceoffs and controlled the puck virtually from start to finish. Connor McDavid, the best player on the ice, created several chances and drew a penalty, but he couldn’t create the winning goal.
Then, with only a few seconds left, he incurred a penalty, thus eliminating himself from the shootout.
As in the entire game, the Americans proved resilient. They improved after a terrible first period to rally, then take the lead twice. Goalie Keith Kinkaid was by turns excellent and reliable.
“Early in the gave wasn’t so great,” offered winning coach Jeff Blashill. “Keith (Kincaid) kept us in the game. I thought we got better as the time went along. Taking nothing away from our other guys, I thought in the end Keith was our best player.”
As did USA Hockey‘s website:
Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn.) netted both goals in the shootout and Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) scored twice in regulation as the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team earned a 5-4 shootout victory over Canada here tonight in its first preliminary round game of the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship.
“This was a great way to kick off the tournament,” said Jeff Blashill, head coach of the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team. “We started a little slow, but I think once we got our feet under us we proved we could compete. There were some great performances by our guys tonight and we’ll look to build on this as we move forward.”
The U.S. will return to action tomorrow (May 5) against Denmark at 8:15 p.m. local time /2:15 p.m. ET. That game, along with all U.S. Men’s World Championship games, will be broadcast live on NHL Network.
USA Hockey’s website also posted a highlight clip and an interview clip:
Canada blew an early 2-0 lead. Pierre-Luc Dubois didn’t waste time and swept the puck high past goalie Keith Kinkaid 47 seconds into the first period.
Ryan O’Reilly doubled the lead with 7:37 left in the period, then Andres Lee pulled one back for the U.S. with a wristed shot.
Larkin tied the score 43 seconds into the second, knocking in a backhand pass from Chris Kreider.
“We had a sloppy first period but Keith was unbelievable tonight,” Larkin said. “We’re gonna need him through the tournament to play like that.”
Kinkaid made 40 saves as Canada outshot the U.S. 44-25.
“After the first, we settled in and it was nice to get tied up and to get a lead. And he did the rest,” Larkin said.
Midway through the second, forward Johnny Gaudreau scored after Kane fed him a cross to put the U.S. 3-2 ahead. Anthony Beauvillier answered for Canada on a rebound.
Larkin added his second 3:27 into the final period for the 4-3 lead.
The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan weighed in…
Larkin snapped a 3-3 tie Friday at 3 minutes 27 seconds of the third period, his second goal of the game. Chris Kreider made a nice backhand pass to Larkin driving to the net, and Larkin beat Canadian goalie Darcy Kuemper blocker side.
Larkin tied the game at 2 in the second period, with Kreider and Jordan Oesterle (Dearborn Heights/Chicago Blackhawks) assisting.
Kreider found Larkin alone near the post during a scramble, and Larkin tapped the puck past a sprawling Kuemper 43 seconds into the period.
Johnny Gaudreau and Anders Lee had the other USA goals, while Alex DeBrincat (Farmington Hills/Blackhawks) had an assist.
Pierre-Luc DuBois, Ryan O’Reilly, Anthony Beauvillier and Colton Parayko had Canada goals.
Team USA will face host Denmark on Saturday.
As did the Free Press’s Helene St. James…
Larkin pulled the U.S. even at 2 midway through the second period, and gave the U.S. a 4-3 lead early in the third period of the game at Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark.
Jeff Blashill, head coach of the Red Wings and making his second appearance as head coach of the U.S. at worlds, tapped Larkin to go in round five of the shootout, but Larkin’s attempt was saved by goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
Larkin already has as many goals as he did in eight games at the 2017 World Championship.
And MLive’s Ansar Khan:
Larkin scored a pair of goals Friday and Cam Atkinson (Columbus) scored twice in the shootout to lead the United States past Canada 5-4 in the tournament opener at Herning, Denmark.
U.S. goaltender Keith Kinkaid (New Jersey) was named player of the game after making 40 saves in regulation and overtime and stopping 5-of-6 shooters in the shootout.
Atkinson scored both shootout goals for the U.S., including the winner on the sixth attempt against Darcy Kuemper (Arizona).
Larkin scored his second goal of the game at 3:27 of the third period to snap a 3-3 tie. Larkin used a burst of speed to drive to the net and convert a pass from Chris Kreider (two assists).
