Team USA falls to Finland in preliminary round at worlds

Team USA finished its preliminary round portion Tuesday at the men’s world championships with a 6-2 loss against Finland.

Patrick Kane and Derek Ryan scored USA’s goals, leaving the national team with a 6-1-0 record (2 shootout victories).

With a goal and assist, Kane set USA records for both points (17) and assists (11) in a single men’s world championship.

Red Wings Dylan Larkin and Nick Jensen didn’t figure in Tuesday’s scoring for coach Jeff Blashill’s team.

“We came out and played good hockey at the start of the game before a few bounces didn’t go our way and that was the real difference,” Blashill told reporters afterward.

“We’ve said from the start that we want to learn and improve every game, and you can’t do that without facing some adversity.”

Team USA finished second in Group B play and will face the Czech Republic (6-1-0, 3 shootout victories) Thursday in a quarterfinal game at a time to be determined (it will be televised live by NHL Network).

“It’s important for us to learn from this and build as we turn our attention to Thursday and facing a real good Czech team,” Blashill said.

Blashill, Jensen and Larkin will see some familiar faces when playing the Czechs, who have defensemen Filip Hronek and Libor Sulak — both Red Wings prospects — in its lineup.

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com

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