The St. Louis Blues have plenty of players over in Denmark taking part in the IIHF World Championships. They wasted little time making an impact for their countries.
It did not take much time for any of the St. Louis Blues to make a mark on the 2018 IIHF World Championships. As the tournament opened with Team Canada against Team USA, an old-time rivalry, the Blues made their mark on the contest.
With the red, white and blue taking on the red and white of Canada, it did not take long for this game to kick into high gear. Canada scored 43 seconds into the contest and were up 2-0 barely halfway through the game.
However, Tage Thompson helped spark the comeback for Team USA. He picked up an assist on the American’s first goal, which came at 13:59 of the first period and cut the lead in half.
Team USA would score the next two goals, taking a 3-2 lead. The Canadians would tie it before the second period ended, but Team USA regained the lead in the third period.
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In the end, it was another member of the Blues that forced the game into overtime. Colton Parayko scored with about 10 minutes left in the third period to send the game into the extra period. Parayko also factored into the first goal, but was not credited with an assist, though his blocked shot was almost immediately scored off of.
Neither team could score in the overtime. This forced the game into a shootout. Why an international contest with group stages has shootouts is beyond me, but that’s how this thing is set up.
Brayden Schenn was selected by the Canadians to take a penalty shot, but he was denied. Interestingly, according to the Post-Dispatch, tournament rules kept Connor McDavid out of the shootout. He picked up a penalty in OT, making him ineligible.
Team USA ended up winning in the shootout thanks to a player Blues fans are familiar with. Cam Atkinson of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who used to be in the Blues division, ended up scoring the game clinching goal in the shootout.
On an additional note, Team USA had a St. Louis flavor in net as well. Keith Kinkaid, of New York, played his junior hockey with the St. Louis Bandits.
Though he had a shaky start allowing those two goals, Kinkaid ended up stopping 40 of 44 shots. He was under siege most of the game and made some great saves.
Next: Ten Blues Playing In IIHF World Championships
Elsewhere in the tournament, Team Russia stomped Team France 7-0. Nikita Soshnikov did not feature in that game, however.
Team USA plays host Denmark on Saturday. Team Canada resumes play on Sunday and the members of the Blues on Team Czech get started on Saturday as well.