U.S. punches ticket to Para hockey’s gold-medal game
By The Canadian Press on May 10, 2024.
CALGARY – The United States will be playing for gold Sunday at the World Para Ice Hockey Championship at WinSport Arena. The team, which advanced to its ninth straight gold-medal game with a 3-1 win over Czechia in Friday’s semifinal, will either face Canada or China, who are squaring off in Friday’s second semifinal. Malik Jones of the U.S. national team, scored the go-ahead goal with 7:01 remaining in the game. “It was a challenging environment for us today, we struggled to finish a few chances and weren’t able to get any cushion early,” said U.S. coach David Hoff. “But I thought that we were in such a tough environment in the third and we were able to finish and pull through, I think it showed a lot of character from our guys.” Chris Douglas opened scoring for the U.S. 8:56 into the contest when he capitalized on a one-timer from the slot after the puck was poked off the stick of Declan Farmer. At the 5:11 mark of the final frame, Martin Zizlavsky scored to tie the game at one apiece. Jones put the U.S. back in front with 7:01 to play in the contest when he batted home the go-ahead goal from just outside the crease after gathering a loose puck from a scrum out in front. With time expiring, Douglas iced the game for the U.S. with an empty-net goal. The U.S. outshot Czechia 22-7, and went 1-for-3 on the power play. Czechia went 0-for-3. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2024. 11-10
