Story By: Y.U. Bosacs
Photos By: Hal Jalikakik
Washington, D.C–
There are lot of things that need tune-ups to perform at top levels, your car, your body and of course all professional teams. These tune-ups as we know then are exhibition games and tonight Team USA held their final game against Finland and emerged victorious, 3-2.
Many of the fans in attendance came to see some of their own local stars from the Washington Capitals, as four members are part of this team heading to Toronto later this month.
Team USA behind one of those Capitals himself jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 1:08 into the game when T.J. Oshie (Warroad, Minn.) one-timed a feed by Kesler from behind the net.
“Overall, I thought it was our best game of the pre-tournament” said John Tortorella, head coach of the U.S. World Cup of Hockey Team. “It’s certainly something we can continue to build on as we get to Toronto.”
Finnish goalie Pekka Rinne stopped 26 of 29 shots. Finland must decide between Rinne and the Boston Bruins’ Tuukka Rask before its opener Sunday against Team North America.
Finland’s young defense couldn’t handle the U.S. speed, and a mistake by Jyrki Jokipakka led to Stepan’s five-hole goal on Rinne at 5:34 of the second. Goals elicited “U-S-A” chants from the crowd that was smaller than the announced attendance of 15,653 but got into the fast-paced, physical action.
USA HOCKEY NOTES
USA Hockey announced today that an officially licensed USA Hockey Store will open at Fashion Show mall in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2016. Fashion Show, located on the Las Vegas Strip across from Wynn and next to Treasure Island hotel, is one of the most sought-after retail destinations in the United States.
Below are the results and the remainder of the schedule for the upcoming games.
| Fri, Sept. 9 | Canada (Pre-Tourn.) | Columbus, OH (Nationwide) | W, 4-2 | |
| Sat., Sept. 10 | Canada (Pre-Tourn.) | Ottawa, Ont. | L, 2-5 | |
| Tues., Sept. 13 | Finland (Pre-Tourn.) | Washington, D.C. (Verizon) | W, 3-2 | |
| Wed., Sept. 14 | Practice | Toronto (Ricoh) | 1:00 p.m. | |
| Thurs., Sept. 15 | Practice | Toronto (Ricoh) | 11:00 a.m. | |
| Fri., Sept. 16 | Practice | Toronto (ACC) | 9:45 a.m. | |
| Sat., Sept. 17 | Practice | Toronto (ACC) | 8:00 a.m. | |
| Team Europe | Toronto (ACC) | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN2 | |
| Sun., Sept. 18 | Practice | Toronto (Ricoh) | 11:00 a.m. | |
| Mon., Sept. 19 | Practice | Toronto (Ricoh) | 1:00 p.m. | |
| Tues., Sept. 20 | Practice | Toronto (ACC) | 11:00 a.m. | |
| Canada | Toronto (ACC) | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN | |
| Wed., Sept. 21 | Practice | Toronto (Ricoh) | 1:00 p.m. | |
| Thurs., Sept. 22 | Practice | Toronto (ACC) | 10:00 a.m. | |
| Czech Republic | Toronto (ACC) | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN2 | |
| Sat., Sept. 24 | Semifinal 1 | Toronto (ACC) | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Sun., Sept. 25 | Semifinal 2 | Toronto (ACC) | 1:00 p.m. | ESPN |
| Tues., Sept. 27 | Final Game 1 | Toronto (ACC) | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN |
| Thurs., Sept. 29 | Final Game 2 | Toronto (ACC) | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Sat., Oct. 1 | Final Game 3 | Toronto (ACC) | 7:00 p.m. (if necessa |
