Jack Eichel, Brandon Montour and Sam Reinhart are representing their countries in Slovakia.
By Jourdon LaBarber and Chris Ryndak / Sabres.com
For hockey fans in Buffalo, the rivalry between the United States and Canada just got a bit more interesting.
Team USA plays Canada on Tuesday, May 21 in what will be both teams’ final game of the preliminary round at the 2019 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia. Jack Eichel will be wearing the red, white and blue. Sam Reinhart and Brandon Montour are both playing for Team Canada, which is being managed by Jason Botterill.
So, yeah, that game should be fun. But we have an entire round of group play to get through in the meantime, which began Friday morning.
Team USA’s schedule
Friday, May 10: United States 1 – Slovakia 4
Eichel recorded the secondary assist on Alex DeBrincat’s first-period power-play goal. He started the game centering a line with Chris Kreider and Clayton Keller. Matus Sukel, Eric Cernak, Tomas Tatar, and Michal Kristof lit the lamp for the host country.
Sunday, May 12: United States 7 – France 1
Eichel picked up another assist in the blowout victory. He had the primary helper on Frank Vatrano’s first-period tally. Eichel registered four shots on goal in 13:22 of action – only Patrick Kane had more shots in the game with six. Team USA outshot France 42-24. DeBrincat and Colin White each scored twice while Kane, Vatrano and Kreider also scored. Six players had multi-point outings.
Monday, May 13 vs. Finland – 10:15 a.m.
Wednesday, May 15 vs. Great Britain – 10:15 a.m.
Saturday, May 18 vs. Denmark – 6:15 a.m.
Sunday, May 19 vs. Germany – 10:15 a.m.
Tuesday, May 21 vs. Canada – 2:15 p.m.
Team Canada’s schedule
Friday, May 10: Canada 1 – Finland 3
Reinhart skated on the right wing with Adam Henrique and Sean Couturier while Montour was paired with Thomas Chabot in the opening day loss. Top draft prospect Kaapo Kakko scored twice for Finland and Arttu Ilomaki added another. Jonathan Marschessault scored Canada’s lone goal.
Sunday, May 12 vs. Great Britain – 2:15 p.m.
Monday, May 13 vs. Slovakia – 2:15 p.m.
Thursday, May 16 vs. France – 10:15 a.m.
Saturday, May 18 vs. Germany – 10:15 a.m.
Monday, May 20 vs. Denmark – 2:15 p.m.
Tuesday, May 21 vs. United States – 2:15 p.m.
Exhibtion games
Team USA
Eichel centered the top line alongside Clayton Keller and Patrick Kane in Team USA’s 5-2 exhibition win over Germany on Tuesday, producing one of the game’s highlight-reel moments with an assist to Keller off a draw in the offensive zone.
It’s been two years since Eichel last played at Worlds, and he’s grown considerably in the meantime. He’s coming off a career year in which he set personal-best totals in goals (28), assists (54) and multi-point outings (27) while continuing to take his 200-foot game to new heights.
This tournament will serve as a chance to stand out on a stage with some of the world’s best players. In addition to Kane and Keller, Team USA’s forward group also includes NHL All-Stars in Dylan Larkin and Johnny Gaudreau as well as this summer’s likely No. 1 pick in center Jack Hughes.
Team Canada
Reinhart was used sparingly when he represented Canada at Worlds in 2016. He was coming off his rookie year in the NHL, a young player on a star-laden roster that went on to win a gold medal.
He, like Eichel, enters this year’s tournament coming off a campaign in which he set career-best marks in several catergories, including assists (43), points (65) and even-strength goals (20). He spent Canada’s exhibition win over Austria on Tuesday skating on the second line alongside Adam Henrique and Sean Couturier.
Montour tallied an assist in that game while manning the top defense pair alongside Thomas Chabot. He’s coming off an impressive stint with the Sabres in which he tallied 10 points (3+7) in 20 games after being acquired prior to the trade deadline.