Rink and Run blog: USA loses to Denmark

COLOGNE, Germany -The United States dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Denmark hon Monday in a preliminary-round game of the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship. The Americans have opened the tournament with two straight 2-1 overtime losses.

"I thought we played our game in the second period," said U.S. Head Coach Scott Gordon. "Establishing a solid forecheck is a big part of playing our game. We turned the puck over way too much in the neutral zone overall. In the end, give Denmark credit. They earned the victory."

After a scoreless first period, the teams traded power-play goals in the middle stanza. Lars Eller beat U.S. netminder Scott Clemmensen (Des Moines, Iowa/Florida Panthers/Boston College) with a slap shot from the right circle at 8:52 to put Denmark on top. Just 3:11 later, Keith Yandle (Boston, Mass./Phoenix Coyotes) evened the game after he converted a cross-crease feed from Kyle Okposo (St. Paul, Minn./New York Islanders/University of Minnesota). Jack Johnson (Ann Arbor, Mich./Los Angeles Kings/University of Michigan), who is serving as Team USA's captain, also assisted on the play. The Americans had the upperhand in the period, outshooting Denmark by a 17-5 count.

After a scoreless third period, which included Team USA having to kill off a late Denmark power play, the game went to a five-minute, four-on-four overtime session. Stefan Lassen scored off a rebound 2:04 into the extra session to give Denmark its second straight victory.

Clemmensen finished with 27 saves, while Denmark goaltender Patrick Galbraith made 30 stops.

Team USA concludes the preliminary round Wednesday against Finland. at 1:15 p.m. CDT. Finland is 1-1 after a 1-0 win against Germany.

NOTES: Keith Yandle was named U.S. Player of the Game ... The top three teams in each of the four groups in the World Championship advance to the qualification round

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