STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Conor Garland (Scituate, Mass./Vancouver Canucks) scored a pair of power-play goals to help lead the U.S. Men’s National Team to a 5-2 victory over Finland in the quarterfinals of the 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championship here tonight at Globe Arena.
With the win, Team USA advances to the semifinal round of the IIHF Men’s World Championship on Saturday (May 24). The time and opponent will be determined at the end of the quarterfinal round. All U.S. games during the 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championship can be seen live on NHL Network.
HIGHLIGHTS
“I really liked how we stayed with it and built as the game wore on,” said Ryan Warsofsky, head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team. “We got off to a bit of a slow start, but really found our game as time wore on. I give our guys a lot of credit as they beat an excellent hockey team today.”
Garland opened the scoring 4:50 into the first during Team USA’s first power play of the game. He rifled a shot from the right faceoff circle past Finnish netminder Juuse Saros following passes from Logan Cooley (Pittsburgh, Pa./Utah Mammoth/University of Minnesota) and Zach Werenski (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Columbus Blue Jackets/University of Michigan).
Eeli Tolvanen scored a power-play goal for Finland at 12:58 to knot the contest at 1-1, capitalizing on a bouncing puck in the right faceoff circle.
Patrik Puistola gave Finland the lead at 7:46 of the second on the power play, firing a one-timer from the slot past U.S. netminder Jeremy Swayman (Anchorage, Alaska/Boston Bruins/University of Maine).
The U.S. capitalized on a delayed-penalty 6-on-5 opportunity at 14:53, as Zeev Buium (San Diego, Calif./Minnesota Wild/University of Denver) drew the penalty and scored on a rebound chance generated from a shot by Matty Beniers (Hingham, Mass./Seattle Kraken/University of Michigan).
Garland added his second power-play tally of the game at 16:04, as he muscled the puck in front of Saros’ net before a pair of Finnish defenders inadvertently knocked it home to give Team USA a 3-2 lead.
Shane Pinto (Franklin Square, N.Y./Ottawa Senators/University of North Dakota) collected his first goal of the tournament at 5:52 of the third, wristing one past the blocker of Saros from just outside the slot to give the U.S. a 4-2 lead.
Clayton Keller (St. Louis, Mo./Utah Mammoth/Boston University) added an empty-net tally from long range at 17:15 to account for the 5-2 final.
Swayman finished the game with 20 saves, collecting his fifth win of the tournament.
NOTES: Conor Garland was named U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. went 2-4 on the power play while Finland went 2-5 … Team USA outshot Finland, 28-22, including by a 14-6 count in the third period … The U.S. is in the semifinals of the men’s world championship for the fourth time in the last five years.
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Source: usahockey.com