Johnny Gaudreau misses Team USA’s Saturday game at Worlds

Several Calgary Flames representatives were in action at the 2019 World Hockey Championship on Friday and Saturday, but the biggest news revolved around the absence of Johnny Gaudreau from the United States’ lineup.

Team USA was without Johnny Gaudreau on Saturday, as he was absent from the game without a formal announcement from USA Hockey – based on him missing the third period against Great Britain, it’s logical to presume that it’s injury-related. Even without Gaudreau, the USA rolled Denmark by a 7-1 score.

Noah Hanifin had an assist, two shots and was plus-three, while Derek Ryan had two assists, zero shots and was plus-two. Team USA 4-1-0 and has games against Germany (on Sunday) and Canada (on Tuesday) left to close out the round robin stage. They’ll clinch a spot in the quarterfinals with a win in either of their remaining games (or a Slovakia loss in their final round robin game)

The Czechs had another strong performance on Friday, beating Italy by an 8-0 score. Michael Frolik had two goals, two assists, three shots and was plus-three. Through five games, he’s among the tournament’s leading scorers.

The Czech Republic is 4-1-0 and has clinched a spot in the quarterfinals. They’ll close out the round robin stage with games against Austria (on Sunday) and Switzerland (on Tuesday) to determine seeding.

The Swedes eked out a 4-3 victory in a back and forth battle with Switzerland on Saturday. Elias Lindholm had zero shots and was minus-one.

Sweden is 4-1-0 and can clinch a spot in the quarterfinals with a win or a Latvia loss. They have a pair of games left to determine seeding, one tougher than the other: they face Latvia on Monday and the undefeated Russians on Tuesday.