U.S. beats Czechs 3-0 to win bronze at world championship
PRAGUE – The United States blanked the host Czech Republic 3-0 at the ice hockey world championship Sunday to claim a second bronze medal in three years.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck of the St. Johns IceCaps made 39 saves for the shutout.
“He’s our best player,” New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson said. “He’s the reason why we’re here, why we’re able to win the medal. He shut the door numerous times.”
The U.S. bounced back from a 4-0 loss to Russia in the semifinals on Saturday. Nick Bonino scored 7:25 into the game and Trevor Lewis got the second with 1:57 to go in the first.
After the U.S. killed a four-minute, one-man advantage, Charlie Coyle netted the third with 50 seconds left in the second to wrap up a decent tournament for the young American team. Bonino and Coyle also had an assist each.
“It was a great effort tonight. We were little bit of shaky at the start but once we settled things down we played pretty well,” said Lewis, the Los Angeles Kings forward. “We’re a young group, we battled hard all the way through. To come out with the medal is awesome.”
The U.S. team won its group with six wins and one loss and knocked out Switzerland with a 3-1 victory in the quarterfinals.
The Czechs lost to Canada 2-0 in the semis.
“A tough game. One of those games for sure you want to forget soon,” Czech veteran Jaromir Jagr said. “But that’s sport. Sometimes you play well, sometimes you don’t.”
The final between Canada and Russia was set for later Sunday.