NEWSLETTER
Four of the eight Chicago Blackhawks representatives were in action on Sunday afternoon at the IIHF World Championships in Latvia. Philipp Kurashev and Switzerland dominated Denmark in a 1-0 win and the USA out-played Canada in a 5-1 drubbing to hand the Canadians with Brandon Hagel, Brandon Pirri, and Nicolas Beaudin, their second regulation loss in as many games.
Switzerland def. Latvia, 1-0
While the score may not look like a dominating win, it was a firing squad from the Swiss side against Denmark and goaltender Sebastian Dahm. The Swiss scored the games only goal in the first period, thanks to a Timo Meier wrist shot, but it was Dahm who stood out in the game after making 29 saves on 30 shots faced. Switzerland out-shot Denmark 30-4 in the game. Yes, Denmark only had four(!) shots on goal in the entire 60-minutes effort. Hats off to Dahm for holding down the fort.
https://twitter.com/IIHFHockey/status/1396522561878433794?s=20
Philipp Kurashev was held off the scoresheet in this one, but he registered two shots on goal and went 2-for-6 from the face-off dot in 12:17 minutes of ice-time. Kurashev has one assist in two games played in the tournament. Switzerland is next in action on Tuesday, taking on Sweden.
United States def. Canada, 5-1
In the marquee matchup of the day, the United States took it to Canada in a 5-1 win to hand the Canadians their second regulation loss in as many games in the tournament. They’ve mustered just one goal through two games against Latvia and the United States today. That lone goal coming from Maxime Comtois in the third period of today’s contest, with Blackhawks Defenseman Nicolas Beaudin providing the primary assist on the play.
Nicolas Beaudin finds Maxime Comtois for Canada’s only goal in their 5-1 loss to the USA today #IIHFWorlds #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/zTYj254qjt
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) May 23, 2021
Beaudin finished the game with the assist, but no shots on goal in 12:40 minutes of work. His Blackhawks counterparts, the Brandons, Hagel and Pirri were less effective in the 5-1 loss to the U.S. Hagel finished the game with just one shot on goal and was a -2 rating in 14:58 minutes of ice-time. Pirri had four shots on goal in 14:11 minutes of game action.
In former Chicago player action, long-time IceHogs defenseman and short-time Blackhawks defenseman Adam Clendening had a two-point night with an assist and a goal, which ended up being the eventual game-winner in the second period.
https://twitter.com/IIHFHockey/status/1396528718034575360?s=20
Pirri, Hagel, Beaudin and the Canadians will now have to look to rebound for their first win of the tournament against a 2-0 German Team being led by Blackhawks 2020 first-round draft pick Lukas Reichel. That game is set for tomorrow afternoon at 12:15 p.m. CT.
