New York State Matt Coronato Named Player of the Game
The U.S. Men’s National Team dropped a 6-2 decision to Finland here today in its third preliminary round game of the 2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship before 9,206 at Swiss Life Arena.
“We’re obviously disappointed, but we’ve got a competitive group and we’ll take some lessons from this game as we move forward,” said Don Granato, head coach of the 2026 U.S. Men’s National Team.
Finland took a 1-0 lead 6:06 into the contest when Lenni Hameenaho forced a turnover in the neutral zone, carried the puck in across the blue line and scored on a shot from the top of the left circle.
At the 7:44 mark of the first, Oliver Moore (Mounds View, Minn./Chicago Blackhawks) gathered the puck from behind the U.S. net, carried it past several Finland defenders into the offensive zone, and sent a cross-ice pass to Matt Coronato (Greenlawn, N.Y./Calgary Flames) at the left circle, who fired a one-timer home to level the score.
Just over a minute later, Patrik Puistola received a pass at the point and capitalized with a quick shot from the top of the circles to give Finland a 2-1 lead at 8:45 of the first.
With 5:50 to play in the opening stanza, Aatu Raty carried the puck into the U.S. zone and buried a wrister five-hole from the top of the circles to make it a 3-1 game.
Early in the middle frame, Hameenaho capitalized on a one-timer from the right circle while on the power play to give Finland a 4-1 lead 1:26 into the period.
Just 31 seconds later, Saku Maenalanen deflected a pass over U.S. netminder Joseph Woll‘s (St. Louis, Mo./Toronto Maple Leafs) glove from the top of the crease to add to the Finland advantage.
Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass./Washington Capitals) made it a 5-2 game at the 3:21 mark of the third when he capitalized on a rebound chance from the slot off a shot from Ryan Ufko (Smithtown, N.Y./Milwaukee Admirals) on a five-on-three power play.
Anton Lundell registered a power play goal off a rebound with 13:27 remaining in the contest to give Finland a 6-2 lead in what proved to be the final tally of the contest.
Woll had five saves in the first 21:57 of action, while Devin Cooley (Los Gatos, Calif./Calgary Flames) made 17 saves in the remaining 38:03.
Team USA is back in action Wednesday (May 20) in its fourth preliminary round game against Germany. Puck drop is set for 2:20 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised live on NHL Network.
NOTES: The U.S. outshot Finland, 32-28 … Team USA was 1-3 on the power play, while Finalnd was 2-5 … Matt Coronato was named U.S. Player of the Game.
