NHL

Patrick Kane's 2 goals help advance U.S. to semifinals at worlds

Ted Kulfan
The Detroit News

Detroit — The Red Wings’ delegation on Team USA isn’t headed back home from the men’s world championships just yet.

Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks) scored two goals, including the winner in the third period, leading Team USA Thursday to a 3-2 quarterfinal victory over the Czech Republic.

Kane now has nine goals and 20 points (11 assists) for the tournament — the points and assists are Team USA records for this tournament.

Kane skated past Wings’ defensive prospect Filip Hronek, got to the dot, and snapped the winner 13 minutes, 2 seconds of the third period.

“It’s fun when you can contribute in games like this and help the team win,” Kane told reporters afterward. “I still think we can play better and push the pace and control games. It’s nice to move on.”

Coach Jeff Blashill’s team (7-1) will face Sweden in Saturday’s semifinals.

“That was a great hockey game that could’ve gone either way and we’re thrilled to be moving on,” Blashill told reporters. “I liked our composure and thought we had a number of guys rise to the occasion.

“We’ll enjoy this before traveling to Copenhagen (Friday) and turning our attention to what we expect will be a hard-fought semifinal game.”

Neither Red Wing Dylan Larkin or Nick Jensen figured on the score sheet, but Larkin’s 21:05 of ice time was most among the USA forwards.

Wings’ prospects Libor Sulak (21:11, plus-1 rating) and Hronek (19:19, minus-2), both defensemen, were among the Czech’s noticeable players.

Cam Atkinson scored the other U.S. goal.

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com

twitter.com/tkulfan