Team USA wins IIHF Men’s World Championship pre-tournament game against Germany

By @StefanKubus –

It took a period for Team USA to find consistency with its offense, but the final two frames offered a look at the squad’s talent.

Before their quest for the IIHF Men’s World Championship begins May 10, the U.S. defeated Germany, 5-2, in pre-tournament action in Mannheim, Germany. Farmington Hills native Alex DeBrincat paced the Americans with a goal and two assists in the contest, while Corey Schneider allowed two goals on 17 shots to earn the win in goal.

Germany opened the scoring at 10:13 of the first period, but Team USA’s Noah Hanifin responded just 3:02 later with DeBrincat pocketing the assist.

But Dominik Kahun responded within 2:07 for Germany to give his club a 2-1 lead into the locker room after 20 minutes.

From that point on, Team USA took control of the game, scoring four straight off the sticks of DeBrincat, Clayton Keller, James van Riemsdyk and Johnny Gaudreau. Hanifin, Gaudreau and DeBrincat each recorded multi-point games, while Jack Hughes also picked up an assist on the van Riemsdyk tally.

Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin was a plus-two in the contest.

The U.S. officially opens its tournament against Slovakia on Friday.