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USA Edged by Finland at Worlds, 3-2

Team USA was defeated at the World Championship 3-2 by Finland earlier today. It was a frustrating loss, especially after the US seemed to be back on track after defeating Belarus on Saturday.

The US got goals from Frank Vatrano and Connor Murphy while Mike Condon made 19 saves. Auston Matthews, who is projected to be the first overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft assisted on the Vatrano goal.

The Finns got goals from Mikko Koivu and Antti Pihlstrom and a power play goal from Leo Komarov that turned out to be the game-decider.

For Devils involved in the game, Steve Santini had 13:52 of total ice time, David Warsofsky had three shots on goal and 16:13 of ice time and Miles Wood had 7:39 of ice time. Keith Kinkaid did not play, we will see if coach John Hynes decides to stick with Condon for the next game against France on Thursday or if he goes back to Kinkaid for that game.

Another Devil active in this tournament is Adam Larsson, who is suiting up for Team Sweden. In their 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic earlier today, Larsson had 21:57 of ice time, was a minus-2 and had two minutes of penalty time (a tripping call at 18:15 of the first period that the Swedes would get a shorthanded goal by Martin Lundberg on). Sweden’s other goal came off the stick of Robert Rosen. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves in the loss.

Larsson and Sweden next take on Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

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Steve Santini and Boston College Headed to Frozen Four

New Jersey Devils prospect Steve Santini and his Boston College teammates are headed to the 2016 NCAA Frozen Four at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, April 7 to 9. The games will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2.

The number five in the nation ranked Eagles defeated Minnesota-Duluth to advance where they will meet the number one ranked Quinnipiac University Bobcats. Quinnipiac defeated UMass-Lowell to get to the semifinals of the Men’s Division 1 hockey championship, officially known as the Frozen Four. Denver will play North Dakota in the other semifinal. Both games will take place on April 7 in Tampa.

Boston College’s road to the Frozen Four saw them defeat Harvard in the first round before facing Minnesota-Duluth (the NCAA hockey tournament is considerably smaller in scale than the basketball tournament). Quinnipiac beat Rochester Institute before beating UMass-Lowell. On the other side of the bracket, Denver beat John Hynes’ alma mater, Boston University and Ferris State to advance, while Travis Zajac’s alma mater, number three seeded North Dakota beat Northeastern and Michigan, which is Michael Cammalleri’s alma mater, to reach the Frozen Four. Boston College boasts current Devils Cory Schneider and Stephen Gionta as alumni.

The favorite going into this final part of the tournament would have to be Quinnipiac. The Bobcats have only lost three times this season with their first loss not coming until around Christmas. This is also the Bobcats’ second trip to the Frozen Four in four years. The number one seed should give Santini and Boston College all they can handle in the first semifinal.

The Quinnipiac versus Boston College game takes place on April 7 at 5 PM on ESPN2, while the North Dakota-Denver game takes place at 8:30 PM also on April 7 and also on ESPN2. The National Championship Game will take place on April 9 at 8 PM on ESPN.