Tkachuk's 4 points lift U.S. into playoffs at words
Brady Tkachuk tallied four points and Cole Caufield scored twice to lead the U.S. to a win over Poland and a trip to world hockey championships playoff round.
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PRAGUE -- Brady Tkachuk scored a goal and added three assists, Cole Caufield scored twice and the United States clinched a playoff-round berth with a 4-1 win over Poland in preliminary round play at the men's world hockey championships on Friday.
Michigan State goalie Trey Augustine stopped 20 shots, including all 11 he faced in a scoreless first period. Michael Kesselring also scored for the Americans, who improved to 3-1-1 and moved into second place in the Group B standings.
John Murray, who has Polish roots and is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, stopped 53 shots, including 34 of the first 36 he faced through two periods to keep the score tight. Grzegorz Pasiut scored Poland's lone goal, briefly cutting the U.S. lead to 3-1 with 13:38 left in the third period.
Poland dropped to 0-4-1 and is in jeopardy of facing relegation.
Kesselring, a defenseman for NHL Utah, was set up by Tkachuk on a 3-on-1 rush to open the scoring 9:49 into the second period.
Tkachuk, the U.S. and Ottawa Senators captain, then made it 2-0 with 42 seconds left in the frame on a 2-on-1 break. Murray made the initial stop on Shane Pinto, and the puck got caught up in Tkachuk's skate and went in as the forward was pushed from behind and crashed into the net.
The Americans close preliminary round play facing Kazakhstan on Sunday and Latvia on Tuesday.
In Group A play, Dominik Kubalik and Jakub Flek scored second-period goals 64 seconds apart, and the Czech Republic beat Austria 4-0. Petr Mrazek, who plays goal for the Chicago Blackhawks, picked up the shutout with 21 saves, and the host Czechs improved to 3-1-1 to take over first place in their pool.
Austria dropped to 1-3-1.
Earlier in the day, JJ Peterka had a goal and three assists, Wojciech Stachowiak set up four goals, and Germany clinched a Group B playoff berth with an 8-2 rout of Kazakhstan.
Philipp Grubauer, who plays for the NHL's Seattle Kraken, stopped 18 shots. Peterka, a member of the Buffalo Sabres, scored the eventual game-winning goal in putting the Germans ahead 3-1 at the 1:11 mark of the second period.
Roman Starchenko and Artyom Korolyov scored for Kazakhstan, which is in jeopardy of facing relegation after dropping to 1-4. Andrey Shutov allowed three goals on 10 shots before being replaced by Nikita Boyarkin, who stopped 20 of 25 shots.
In Group A preliminary round play, Christian Wejse scored the decisive goal with 7:59 left in regulation of Denmark's 4-3 win over winless Britain.
Mikkel Aagaard scored twice and Phillip Bruggisser had a goal and assist for the Danes, who snapped a three-game skid to improve to 2-3. Frederik Dichow made 28 saves in the victory.
Liam Kirk, Cade Neilson and Nathanael Halbert scored for Britain, which dropped to 0-4. Jackson Whistle finished with 24 saves for a team that's been competitive despite its record, and opened the worlds with a 4-2 loss to Canada.
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UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- — DeWanna Bonner had 22 points and six of Connecticut's 14 steals, DiJonai Carrington added 21 points and the Sun used a big fourth quarter to beat the Washington Mystics 84-77 on Friday night.
Connecticut has won 10 of the last 11 regular-season meetings with Washington.
Connecticut trailed 62-56 with 8:18 left in the fourth quarter before scoring the next 15 points to take a 71-62 lead. The Sun finished with 32 points in quarter after scoring just 36 in the first half.
Julie Vanloo, a 31-year-old rookie, completed a three-point play with 1:50 left to get Washington within 75-72 but Tyasha Harris answered with a basket and free throw at the other end.
Bonner grabbed an offensive rebound and made a shot in the paint with 27.1 seconds left for an 82-75 lead and she added two free throws on Connecticut's next possession to seal it.
Alyssa Thomas, coming off her ninth regular season triple-double of her career, finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for Connecticut (2-0). Thomas and Carrington combined to make 14 straight free throws as Connecticut went 24 of 26. Bonner, who moved into fifth all-time in scoring in WNBA history on Tuesday, was 9 of 19 from the field including 0 of 6 from distance.
Karlie Samuelson led Washington (0-2) with 18 points. Vanloo finished with 12 points and eight assists, and Shakira Austin had 10 points and nine rebounds. Brittney Sykes was helped off the court in the first half with an apparent left ankle injury and she did not return.
Samuelson made all five of her shots in the first half, including her fourth 3-pointer with 1:09 remaining before halftime to tie it at 36-all. The four 3-pointers tied her career-high for an entire game. Connecticut was just 2 of 13 from distance in the first half and finished 2 of 20.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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