The United States had another setback at the 2026 IIHF World Championships on Saturday. After beating Germany in a shootout on Wednesday, the U.S. got off to a slow start against Latvia on Saturday before losing 4-2. Latvia took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission before Matthew Tkachuk tied the game in the second period. However, Latvia broke the tie in the third period before adding an empty-net goal to make it a 3-1 game. The U.S. didn't go away after Mathieu Olivier scored to make it 3-2, but Latvia eventually added another empty-net goal to secure the 4-2 win. Pittsburgh Penguins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins] forward Tommy Novak and defenseman Connor Clifton recorded no points in the loss. Novak has one goal and two points in five games, while Clifton has no points in five games. Next up for Team USA is a game against Hungary on Monday. After that, Team USA will close preliminary play against Austria on Tuesday. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwquDfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
