Stars at the World Championship: Sweden rallies to beat USA, contact lens may have helped Neal
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page
The preliminary round at the World Championship ended Wednesday with Sweden staging a thrilling comeback win over the United States. The Swedes rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the last half of the third period to force overtime and then won it in the extra session.
None of the Stars involved in the game - Loui Eriksson and Nicklas Grossman for Sweden and Matt Niskanen for Team USA - factored in the scoring.
Eriksson had no shots and was a plus-two in the game, while Grossman had one shot and was a minus-2, but had one of the big hits of the game, decking USA forward Colin Wilson early in the contest. Niskanen was even for the Americans and had one shot.
The USA had a 3-2 lead going into the third period period and then added two more goals in the first 8:20 of the final period to make it 5-2. But the Swedes rattled off three goals in a 5:06 span to tie and then Kristian Huselius scored 1:59 into the extra period to give the Swedes the dramatic come-from-behind win.
Despite eleven goals being scored in the game and five of them coming against Sweden, the best player in the game was probably Swedish goalie Jonas Gustavsson. The highly touted Gustavsson, who is being pursued as a free agent by the Dallas Stars and other NHL teams, stopped 39 of 44 shots and was named his team's best player in the contest.
"How often do you see a goalie give up five goals and still be their best player? He was fantastic. We might have hand nine or ten goals tonight otherwise," Team USA Coach Ron Wilson told reporters after the game.
Plagued by some shoddy defense in front of him for the first 50 minutes, Gustavsson faced several prime USA scoring chances. He had no chance on some of the goals and he delivered some spectacular saves to keep his team in the game.
Sweden plays Russia in the first game of the qualification round on Thursday. Team USA plays France in qualification round play on Friday.
Meanwhile, Stars prospect Philip Larsen and Denmark didn't make it into the qualification round. Denmark lost 5-4 in overtime to Norway. The Danes will now play in the relegation round where they will try to maintain their Division I status.
Larsen played 23:05 in the game, had three shots on goal, a minus-one rating and six penalty minutes.
Contact lens may have helped Neal
A contact lens may have prevented Stars forward James Neal from sustaining what could have been a career-ending eye injury in Tuesday's game against Slovakia.
Neal suffered cuts to his upper and lower eyelids when he was caught with a high stick just seconds into his first shift. He was taken to an area hospital where doctors had to stitch up the cuts.
"His eye was swelled shut but there was no damage to his eye," Canada captain Shane Doan told CBC Sports. "Someone said his contact [lens] helped save his eyeball."
Neal is expected to make a full recovery, but the injury will keep him out for the rest of the tournament, which runs through May 10.
"His injury is severe enough that he won't play again in the tournament," Canada's general manager Doug Armstrong said on Wednesday. "He got cut above and below the eye. He went to the local hospital last night they sewed up his eyelid. He is going to stay with us for another 24 to 48 hrs to make sure the swelling goes down a bit then he will fly back to Toronto. The good news it's not career threatening or career ending it's just a serious enough injury to take him out of this tournament."
Stars coach Dave Tippett, who is serving as an associate coach for Canada, said Neal was disappointed that his trip to the World Championship was over.
"He was down and the fact that the tournament was just getting going, that a group of young guys was getting together and were bonding, that part is disappointing," Tippett told the Canadian Press. "We think he has a bright future and it is disappointing he will not have this experience and hopefully he will be ready for the fall [and the 2009-10 NHL season]."
After Neal gets to Toronto he will then make his way to Dallas, where he will be evaluated by the Stars' medical staff.
And then there were 12
The qualification round begins Thursday with the remaining 12 teams being split into two groups and the teams keep the points collected against each other.
Group E consists of Russia (6 points),
USA (4 points), Sweden (3 points), Switzerland (3 points), Latvia (2
points), and France (0 points).
Group F consists of Canada (6 points), Finland (6 points), Czech
Republic (3 points), Belarus (2 points), Slovakia (1 point), and Norway
(0 points).
The four teams eliminated from the qualification portion of the tournament - Denmark, Austria, Germany, Hungary - move onto the relegation round.
Wednesday's scores
Latvia 2, Austria 0
Norway 5, Denmark 4 (OT)
Finland 4, Czech Republic 3
Sweden 6, USA 5 (OT)
Thursday's schedule
| Teams | Time (CT) |
|---|---|
| Russia vs. Sweden | 9:15am |
| Belarus vs. Norway | 9:15am |
| Switzerland vs. Latvia | 1:15pm |
| Canada vs. Czech Republic | 1:15pm |
Stars player daily recaps/game logs
| James Neal, LW (Canada) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4/29: Hockey Canada announced
that Neal was out for the tournament due to cuts around his eye
suffered in the game against Slovakia. Neal was scheduled to
stay in Switzerland for 24-48 hours to allow the swelling to go
down before flying to Toronto and then on to Dallas to be
checked out by the Stars' medical staff. 4/28: Neal was hurt just seconds into his first shift of the game when he collided with Slovakia's Ladislav Nagy and suffered a laceration on his eyelid from a high stick. Neal was taken to an area hospital for stitches. The injury was not serious, according to Hockey Canada. 4/26: Played on a line with Mike Fisher and Colby Armstrong to start the game. Scored a first period goal, taking a pass from Fisher off the rush and scoring from close range to give Canada a 4-0 lead. In the third period played some with Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley. 4/24: Played on Canada's fourth line with center Mike Fisher and right wing Colby Armstrong. Picked up two assists, setting up a third period Jason Spezza goal that made it 3-0 Canada and 1:34 setting up Fisher on an odd-man rush to push the score to 4-0. Neal Game Log:
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| Matt Niskanen, D (USA) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4/29: Niskanen, who played 15:18, had no
points, one shot on goal and was even in a 6-5 overtime loss to
Sweden. He was paired with Keith Ballard. 4/27: Scored a five-on-three power play goal and assisted on another goal in a 6-1 win over Austria. His goal came off a one-timer from the left circle. Was paired again with Keith Ballard, was a plus-one and had one shot on goal. 4/25: Niskanen was paired with Keith Ballard on the Team USA defense. He played 17:31, picking up no points and a minus-one rating in a 4-2 win. Niskanen Game Log:
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| Loui Eriksson, LW (Sweden) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4/29: Eriksson, who played 14:00, had no
points, no shots on goal and was a plus-two in a 6-5 overtime
win over USA. He played left wing on a line with Tony Martensson
and Mattias Weinhandl. 4/27: Assisted on power play goal, setting up a one-timer by defenseman Magnus Johansson in Sweden's 3-2 (SO) loss to Latvia. Eriksson had five shots on goal, tying the for team lead, and had some good scoring chances including a breakaway he didn't convert. Played left wing on a line with Tony Martensson and Mattias Weinhandl. 4/25: Eriksson picked up a goal and an assist while playing on a line with Tony Martensson and Mattias Weinhandl. Eriksson picked up an assist on Sweden's sixth goal of the game when he put a shot on net and Weinhandl scored on the rebound. Eriksson scored to make it a 7-1 game when he roofed a shot from the slot. Eriksson Game Log:
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| Nicklas Grossman, D (Sweden) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4/29: Grossman played 19:20, had no points,
one shot on goal and was a minus-two in Sweden's 6-5 overtime
win over USA. He was paired with Magnus Johansson. 4/27: Had no points and a plus-one rating in the Sweden-Latvia game He was paired again with Dick Tarnstrom. His 22:24 of ice time was third highest on Sweden. 4/25: Grossman was paired with Dick Tarnstrom and playing 17:39 and picking up one assist when he faked a shot from the slot and sent a pass to Marcus Nilsson, who scored into the open side of the net from close range that made it 3-0 Sweden. Grossman Game Log:
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| Philip Larsen, D (Denmark) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4/29: Larsen had no points, three shots, a
minus-one rating and six penalty minutes in Denmark's 5-4
overtime loss to Norway.
4/27: Led the Danes with 24:30 of ice and was even in the 5-1 loss to Finland. Had two shots on goal and logged time on both the power play and penalty kill. 4/25: Logged a game-high 25:55 of ice time in Denmark's 5-0 loss to Czech Republic. Larsen, who played on both the power play and penalty kill, led Denmark with four shots on goal and had an even rating in the game. Larsen Game Log:
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| Joel Lundqvist, LW (Sweden) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4/26: It was announced that Lundqvist
was out for the rest of the tournament due to a thigh injury.
4/25: Lundqvist started the playing with left wing with Richard Wallin and Niklas Persson, but he did not play after the first period due to injury. He is questionable for Sweden's next game. Lundqvist Game Log:
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