Denmark loses to USA, will play in relegation group

As the Team Denmark couldn´t avoid its third consecutive loss, it is clear that the Danish players will not get into quarterfinals. The Americans, powered by strong defence and yet another shutout, this time by backup goalie Jared Rutledge, captured a 4-0 victory before taking on Team Canada in the final game of the group stage.

Just like always, Team Denmark also showed their offensive abilities when they got a couple of scoring chances. All of them were stopped by either the American defensive corps or goalie Jared Rutledge, who denied Mads Eller with four minutes to go. The fact that both teams were stellar at their respective ends and their goalies made great job to back them up, limited the number of big-time opportunities in the opening frame.

The second-period crisis was another thing the Danish team suffered from in previous games. This time, the U.S. opened the second frame on a man advantage, which helped them prove the myth as Seth Jones doubled the lead with a big one-timer from the blueline.

"We talk about it a lot and try to play full sixty minutes," said Eller, who is considered one of the best Danish prospects for the 2013 draft. "It´s happened to us for a long time, I think that we get too satisfied in the first period and then we are too confident in the second."

Just a few minutes later, Denmark lost control of the game as Matt Lane wrapped around the net and J.T. Compher extended his feed to Frank Vatrano who made it 3-0.

With six minutes left in the second, an American giveaway resulted in a two-on-goalie situation for the Danish first line. The puck carrier and the scorer of three goals at this event, Oliver Bjorkstrand, decided to make a backhand move on Rutledge, who managed to blocker the puck away. The game got also physical later in the period as Eller got dropped twice by Pat Sieloff and took out his frustration with a big open-ice hit on Jacob Trouba. "They hit me twice so I told myself to take a revenge and when I saw the opportunity, I decided to level him," said 16-year-old forward Eller. "I actually had a concussion this year, but now I´m okay."

The third period came and finally, we get to mention the Danish goalie, George Sorensen. Two early-third-period bad-angle shots by Vatrano and Anthony Louis had to surprise him, but he either stood his ground with a glove save or got a little help from his left post. Denmark had a good chance midway through as they had a power play, but they couldn´t capitalize on it, so it was Sorensen again who kept their hopes alive with a pad save on Trouba.

Anyway, the game wasn´t over yet. The Danish team didn´t manage to threaten the American net in the rest of the period. To seal the deal, Colorado native Quentin Shore put the puck underneath Sorensen and in. 4-0 is the final score. "We did what we had to do and now we´re focused on the game with Canada, which will be very important. We haven´t allowed a goal on this tournament yet and we are solid in defence, keeping our opponents far from the net," is the explanation of American success by Lane.

With a lot of stars attending games of this championship, such as Tampa Bay´s general manager Steve Yzerman, a high-ranked Czech prospect for the upcoming draft Tomáš Hertl or TSN play-by-play broadcaster Dave Randorf, Eller´s brother Lars was close to attending, too. "My brother was supposed to come, but he had some plans with his wife and now he´s preparing for the World Championship in Stockholm," says Mads Eller.