However, a series of mistakes and misfortunes led to
a 6-2 loss to Canada
and a spot in the bronze-medal game against Sweden at Scotiabank Centre on Thursday (2:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
"We've got a chance to win a medal tomorrow and that's important, so we've got to wrap our head around that," U.S. defenseman
Luke Hughes
(New Jersey Devils) said. "Tomorrow's a big game for us, and we need to come home with a medal."
To do that, they'll have to avoid some of the issues that cost them Wednesday.
"I think a few of the kids got caught up in the moment a little bit, and we made some big mistakes that Canada capitalized on," U.S. coach Rand Pecknold said. "I thought we got a little dishonest at times. I thought we played really well at times, too. In the first we were great. We just couldn't put it together for 60 minutes."
Hughes, the U.S. captain who has four points (three goals, one assist) in six games, lamented the missed opportunities his team had.
Along with two goals that were disallowed for goalie interference, the U.S. went 0-for-4 on the power play and failed to take advantage of some of the great chances it had against Canada goalie Thomas Milic (2023 draft eligible).
Chaz Lucius
(Winnipeg Jets) had a breakaway at 3:55 of the second period with the game tied 2-2, but Milic made a blocker save before stretching with his glove to deny
Jimmy Snuggerud
(St. Louis Blues) on a 2-on-1 rush at 6:32. Then at 3:46 of the third period, Milic left the net to play Hughes' dump-in, but the puck bounced off the end boards and rolled in front, and Milic was able to dive back into the crease to smother a shot by
Cutter Gauthier
(Philadelphia Flyers).
"We had some really good chances throughout the game," Hughes said. "We just couldn't bury ours and they buried theirs."
Pecknold said he expects the U.S. to bounce back the way it did after a 6-3 loss to Slovakia on Dec. 28, when it defeated Switzerland 5-1 the following day.
"I think for us it's returning to our honesty and playing to our identity, which we got away from tonight," he said. "We did it in spurts, but we didn't do it long enough. It's a quick turnaround, we have to reset here and get that back. After Slovakia, we struggled a bit that game because we played a little loose, didn't really play to our identity. I thought we did a great job of reloading for Switzerland and then Finland (5-2 win Dec. 31) and Germany (11-1 win in quarterfinals Jan. 2).
"But we've got to find a way to dig in. We don't want to come in fourth."
