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Zibanejad, Andersson, Kreider, and Pionk Medal At World Championships

Lias Andersson gets a medal and keeps it this time

The 2018 IIHF World Championships ended yesterday – a tournament in which a number of New York Rangers participated in after their season ended. Chris Kreider and Neal Pionk were a part of Team USA, Mika Zibanejad and Lias Andersson were with Team Sweden, Filip Chytil played for Team Czech Republic, and Pavel Buchnevich and Igor Shestyorkin competed for Team Russia.

Buchnevich, Shestyorkin, and Team Russia finished second in the group round with a 5-1-1 record and 16 points, before falling to 5-4 to Team Canada in overtime of the quarterfinals. In eight games, Buchnevich recorded four points (one goal, three assists), and was a plus-five.

Shestyorkin played in four games in his third World Championship appearance; he earned two wins, a .942 save percentage, 1.46 goals against average, and two shutouts.

Team Czech Republic finished third in the group round, behind Russia and Sweden, after earning a record that consisted of three wins, three overtime wins, and one regulation loss  (15 points). They were eliminated by Team USA in the quarterfinals. Before their elimination, Chytil earned two points (one goal, one assist) in seven games played.

Kreider and Pionk were both members of Team USA. Team USA finished second in Group B, with a 6-1-0 record (four wins, two overtime wins) and 16 points. They defeated Team Czech Republic in the quarterfinals, but lost to Team Sweden in the semifinals. USA battled Canada in the bronze medal game, and won 4-1.

In 10 games played, Pionk tallied three points (two goals, one assist), a plus-7, and four penalty minutes.

The 2018 tournament was Kreider’s third time at the World Championship, and fifth time wearing the Team USA jersey. He kicked off the tournament with a two-assist game when Team USA defeated Team Canada 5-4 in the shootout. Then, he ended the tournament with a two-goal game against Canada in the bronze medal game and “Player of the Game” honors. All together, Kreider accumulated 10 points (four goals, six assists; three of his goals were scored on the power play) in 10 games.

Team Sweden finished the group round in the lead, with a 7-0-0 record (six wins, one overtime win) and 20 points. They won 3-2 over Team Latvia in the quarterfinals and 6-0 over Team USA in the semifinals, before matching up against Team Switzerland in the gold medal game. It took 60 minutes of regulation, 20 minutes of overtime, and a shootout – but after all of that, Team Sweden was victorious for the second consecutive year.

Andersson once again wore the Team Sweden sweater after captaining the World Junior team to silver earlier this year. In 10 games played, he earned two points (one goal, one assist).

Zibanejad’s competed for Team Sweden at a number of levels – U16, U17, U18, and U20 – but this was his first World Championship. He was Sweden’s number one center, between Rickard Rakell and Mattias Janmark throughout the tournament. Through 10 games, he scored 11 points (six goals, five assists). Three of his goals were scored on the power play and two were game-winners; plus, one of his goals was scored in the gold medal game. His six goals ranked sixth in the tournament, and 11 points were seventh.

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