Buffalo Sabres star Jack Eichel leads the U.S. men’s hockey team at the world championship, with all U.S. and knockout-round games streaming live on NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app starting Friday.
The U.S. is grouped with world powers Russia and Sweden, plus Denmark, Germany, Italy, Latvia and Slovakia. The top four nations from each group advance to the knockout round, beginning with quarterfinals May 18.
The other group includes stalwarts Canada and Finland.
The U.S. has one of the biggest names of the tournament in Eichel, a 20-year-old who led the Sabres with 57 points in his second NHL season.