RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Trevor Moore and 18-year-old Matty Beniers scored in a 1:47 span midway through the second period to help the United States beat Latvia 4-2 on Thursday in the world hockey championship.
Brian Boyle and Matt Tennyson scored in the first period and Cal Petersen made 17 saves in the Americans' third straight victory after an opening loss to Finland. They are second in Group B, a point behind Finland.
“The message that we’ve had, we’ve executed,” said Boyle, at 36 the Americans' oldest player. “We’ve tried to get better each game. With 13 forwards and 7 defensemen, you have different guys playing with different people, but we’re a hard-working team and play above the puck. We’ve tried to earn our offense, and it’s paid off for us.”
Miks Indrasis and Renard Krastenbergs had first-period goals for Latvia.
The U.S. will face Norway on Saturday, Germany on Monday and complete group play Tuesday against Italy.
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1of12Conor Garland of the US, centre, challenges for the puck with Latvia's Oskars Batna, left, during the Ice Hockey World Championship group B match between United States and Latvia at the Arena in Riga, Latvia, Thursday, May 27, 2021.Sergei Grits/APShow MoreShow Less2of12US players celebrate after Trevor Moore scored his side's third goal during the Ice Hockey World Championship group B match between United States and Latvia at the Arena in Riga, Latvia, Thursday, May 27, 2021.Sergei Grits/APShow MoreShow Less3of124of12Conor Garland of the US, left, challenges for the puck with Latvia's Ralfs Freibergs during the Ice Hockey World Championship group B match between United States and Latvia at the Arena in Riga, Latvia, Thursday, May 27, 2021.Sergei Grits/APShow MoreShow Less5of12Jakub Flek of Czech Republic celebrates a goal during the Ice Hockey World Championship group A match between Sweden and Czech Republic at the Olympic Sports Center in Riga, Latvia, Thursday May 27, 2021.Roman Koksarov/APShow MoreShow Less6of127of12Jakub Flek of Czech Republic scores during the Ice Hockey World Championship group A match between Sweden and Czech Republic at the Olympic Sports Center in Riga, Latvia, Thursday May 27, 2021.Roman Koksarov/APShow MoreShow Less8of12Italy's goaltender Justin Fazio fails to stop a goal by Finland's Arttu Ruotsalainen during the Ice Hockey World Championship group B match between Finland and Italy at the Arena in Riga, Latvia, Thursday, May 27, 2021.Sergei Grits/APShow MoreShow Less9of1210of12Switzerland's players celebrate a goal during the Ice Hockey World Championship group A match between Switzerland and Slovakia at the Olympic Sports Center in Riga, Latvia, Thursday, May 27, 2021.Roman Koksarov/APShow MoreShow Less11of12U.S. team head coach Jack Capuano talks to the players during a break during the Ice Hockey World Championship group B match between United States and Latvia at the Arena in Riga, Latvia, Thursday, May 27, 2021.Sergei Grits/APShow MoreShow Less12of12
Finland beat Italy 3-0 in the other Group B game Thursday. Tony Sund scored twice, Arttu Ruotsalainen added a goal, and Harri Sateri made 11 saves.
In Group A, Switzerland routed Slovakia 8-1, and the Czech Republic beat Sweden 4-2.
Gregory Hofmann had a goal and an assist to help Switzerland join Slovakia and Russia atop the group standings. Slovakia had won three in a row in regulation.
The Czech Republic overcame a 2-0 deficit, with Jakub Vrana, Jan Kovar, Lukas Klok and Jakub Flek scoring third-period goals.
