Another Late-Game Letdown Costs Team USA Bronze

Three Pittsburgh Penguins players will be returning from the IIHF world championships empty-handed.

Kristian Rubins threw a shot over Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith’s left shoulder from the right dot at 1:22 of overtime to give Latvia a 4-3 victory over Team USA in the bronze-medal game at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland Sunday.

It was the second overtime defeat of the weekend for Team USA, and the second time in as many days that it failed to hold a third-period lead.

Saturday, Germany scored with 1:23 left in regulation to force the extra period, and former Penguins prospect Frederik Tiffels beat DeSmith in overtime to put the Germans into the gold-medal game against Canada.

Penguins forward Drew O’Connor assisted on Matt Coronato’s goal that gave the U.S. a 3-2 advantage at 6:41 of the third, winning a faceoff to trigger the sequence that culminated in Coronato scoring a few seconds later.

Rubins countered that at 14:21 of the third to force overtime.

Pittsburgh Penguins center Nick Bonino, who is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, was the captain of Team USA.

Rocci Grimaldi scored the first and second goals for Team USA, which finished the tournament 7-2.