U.S. shuts out Czechs to win bronze medal

PRAGUE -- The United States blanked the host Czech Republic 3-0 at the hockey world championship Sunday to claim a second bronze medal in three years.

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck of the St. John's IceCaps made 39 saves for the shutout.

Charlie Coyle of the U.S. celebrates his second-period goal in the bronze-medal game vs. the Czech Republic. JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images

"He's our best player," New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson said. "He's the reason why we're here, why we're able to win the medal. He shut the door numerous times."

The U.S. bounced back from a 4-0 loss to Russia in the semifinal with an early break. Nick Bonino scored 7:25 into the game, and Trevor Lewis got the second with 1:57 to go in the first.

After the U.S. killed a four-minute, one-man advantage, Charlie Coyle netted the third with 50 seconds left in the second period to wrap up a decent tournament for the young American team.

"It was a great effort tonight. We were little bit shaky at the start, but once we settled things down, we played pretty well," said Lewis, the Los Angeles Kings forward. "We're a young group. We battled hard all the way through. To come out with the medal is awesome."

The U.S. won its group with six wins and one loss and knocked out Switzerland with a 3-1 victory in the quarterfinals.

The Czechs lost to Canada 2-0 in the semis.

"A tough game. One of those games for sure you want to forget soon," Czech veteran Jaromir Jagr said. "But that's sport. Sometimes you play well; sometimes you don't."

Canada routed Russia 6-1 to win the gold medal.

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