Members of the U.S. men's ice hockey team stand on the ice after the quarterfinal game against Finland at the 2017 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship at Lanxess Arena on May 18, 2017 in Cologne, Germany.
The U.S. men's ice hockey team's run at the 2017 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship has come to an end by way of a 2-0 quarterfinal loss to Finland.
Entering the game, the U.S. held a group play record of 6-1 and was the top seed from Group A, riding a six-game winning streak after falling to Germany in the tournament opener. Finland placed fourth in Group B with a 4-3 record, including defeats against Canada, the Czech Republic and France.
But those slates were wiped clean in the quarterfinal round, and neither team was able to muster much offense in the first period of play; the U.S. out-shot Finland, 8-6. But Finland broke through on a power-play goal by Mikko Rantanen at 1:01 of the second period, and that was all they would need. Joonas Kemppainen added another with 13:01 left to play. U.S. goalie Jimmy Howard made 18 saves, but it was Finland's Harri Sateri's 26-save shutout that won the day.
It was Finland that eliminated the U.S. at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, a 5-0 performance in the bronze-medal game.
The U.S. had won bronze at two of the previous four world championships, in 2015 and 2013, and placed fourth in 2016.