09/09/2016 at 10:17am EDT
SNEAK PEEK AT FRIDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Team Canada @ Team USA, 7 p.m., ESPNU, SN1, SN360, TVAS
TEAM CANADA, TEAM USA FACE OFF IN PRE-TOURNAMENT OPENER
Team Canada and Team USA meet in the lone pre-tournament game of the day when they face off at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
* Team Canada’s roster features players from 14 NHL clubs, led by four from the San Jose Sharks: Brent Burns, Logan Couture, Joe Thornton and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
* Team USA’s roster includes players from 16 NHL clubs, highlighted by a trio from the Washington Capitals: John Carlson, Matt Niskanen and T.J. Oshie.
THURSDAY’S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
TEAM FINLAND 3, Team Sweden 2 (OT)
TEAM RUSSIA 4, Team Czech Republic 3
Team North America 4, TEAM EUROPE 0
TEAM NORTH AMERICA SHINES IN DEBUT
Matt Murray stopped all 23 shots he faced and Nathan MacKinnon (2-0—2), Johnny Gaudreau (1-1—2) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each scored less than five minutes apart in the second period to lift Team North America to a victory over Team Europe at Videotron Centre in Quebec City.
* Murray, who guided the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup with a 15-6 record during the postseason (2.08 GAA, .923 SV%, 1 SO), recorded the shutout for Team North America – a pool of the best young hockey players from Canada and the United States who are 23 or younger as of Oct. 1, 2016.
* ICYMI: MacKinnon added his second goal of the game via a penalty shot in the third period.
* REMINDER: These teams will meet again Sunday at Bell Centre in Montreal (6 p.m. ET, ESPN3, SN, TVAS).
TEAM FINLAND, TEAM RUSSIA ALSO PICK UP WINS
Team Finland and Team Russia also posted victories in their first pre-tournament games for the World Cup of Hockey 2016:
* Mikael Granlund knotted the game with 4:59 remaining in regulation and Olli Maatta – who also captured the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in June – scored at 4:17 of overtime to power Team Finland over Team Sweden at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki.
* Four players – Evgeny Dadonov (1-1—2), Nikita Kucherov (1-1—2), Artemi Panarin(1-1—2) and Vadim Shipachyov (0-2—2) – registered multiple points to guide Team Russia past Team Czech Republic at Yubileyny Sports Palace in St. Petersburg.
* REMINDER: These teams will face off again Saturday – Team Russia visits Team Czech Republic at O2 Arena in Prague (10:30 a.m. ET, ESPN3, SN360, TVAS), while Team Finland faces Team Sweden at Scandinavium in Gothenburg (12 p.m. ET, ESPN3, SN1, TVAS2).
PLAYER BLOGS FOR WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY 2016
Players from each of the participating teams in the World Cup of Hockey 2016 are writing blogs for WCH2016.com:
Team Canada: Matt Duchene
Team Czech Republic: Jakub Voracek
Team Europe: Leon Draisaitl
Team Finland: Aleksander Barkov
Team North America: Aaron Ekblad
Team Russia: Vladimir Tarasenko
Team Sweden: Gabriel Landeskog
Team USA: Blake Wheeler
the above information was provided by the NHL PR department
Create an Account
In order to leave a comment, please create an account.