The top four teams in Group A advance to the quarterfinals and Team USA currently sits sixth of eight teams in its group. With wins, however, in its final two preliminary rounds game, including at least one in regulation, the U.S. will advance to Thursday’s playoff round. Team USA has made the quarterfinals every year since 2011.
The U.S. last played on Saturday (May 23), and despite owning a 47-22 shots-on-goal advantage, dropped a 4-2 decision to Latvia. Team USA, which is 2-3 through its first five games of the world championship, got goals from Matthew Tkachuk on the power play and Mathieu Olivier, while Devin Cooley made 20 saves.
Hungary is 1-4 to date in the men’s worlds, with its lone win coming by a 5-0 count over Great Britain. After opening the tournament with a 4-1 loss to Finland, Hungary dropped a 4-2 decision to Austria. In its two most recent contests, Hungary has dropped a 6-2 decision to Germany on May 22, while Switzerland blanked them by a 9-0 count on Saturday (May 23).
The U.S. will face Hungary for just the fifth time ever in the IIHF Men’s World Championship, with Team USA having won the first four contests by a cumulative score of 21-2. The two squads met in last year’s world championship, with Team USA gaining a 6-0 victory. Frank Nazar and Cutter Gauthier each scored twice for the U.S. and Jeremy Swayman stopped all 13 shots he faced to pick up the shutout in net.
Isaac Howard (3-1—4) and Mathieu Olivier (2-2—4) share the top spot in points for Team USA heading into play today, followed closely by Max Sasson (1-2—3), Paul Cotter (1-2—3) and Oliver Moore (0-3—3). Devin Cooley is the top netminder for the U.S. and owns a 2-1 record (1.89, .922).
Team USA will finish preliminary round play tomorrow (May 26) against Austria at 4:20 p.m. (10:20 a.m. ET).
