North America defeated Sweden 4-3 in overtime Wednesday, but despite the loss, the Swedes clinched a spot in the semifinals, as well as the top seed in Group B by earning a point.
North America, meanwhile, needs Russia to lose to Finland in regulation on Thursday in order to advance.
The game started in ideal fashion for the young guns, with Auston Matthews and Vincent Trocheck scoring in the games' opening two minutes.
After Filip Forsberg cut the deficit to one, Johnny Gaudreau redeemed a missed penalty shot by burying a breakaway chance to restore North America's two goal lead.
However, before the first period came to a close, Nicklas Backstrom pushed the puck past a sprawling John Gibson to make it 3-2.
The score would remain the same until Patrik Berglund deflected an Erik Karlsson point shot 6:50 into the final frame.
Nathan MacKinnon sealed the game for the North Americans, dispatching Henrik Lundqvist in-tight with an incredible effort during the 3-on-3 overtime session.
Lundqvist followed up a 36-save shutout over Finland on Tuesday with a 45-save effort. Gibson made 35 saves himself in the win.
Sweden goes on to play the second-seeded team, either Canada or Europe, in the semifinal, while North America's destiny is yet to be determined.
Will the Washington Capitals repeat as Presidents' Trophy winners?
Will the Vancouver Canucks or Arizona Coyotes be the worst team in hockey?
And will an injury suffered by Tyler Seguin at the World Cup have a huge impact on the Dallas Stars?
Oddsmakers have set the over/under on point totals for 2016-17 NHL season, with the exception of the Stars pending more information on the extent of Seguin's injury.
Phil Kessel wasn't trying to call anyone out following Team USA's loss to Canada on Tuesday.
The Pittsburgh Penguins winger appeared to roast the American men's hockey program in the aftermath of a disappointing World Cup performance, tweeting, "Just sitting around the house tonight with my dog. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldn't put my finger on it."
"Of course it wasn't directed at the players," Kessel said in a text exchange with ESPN's Joe McDonald. "I know how tough it is to play the game. It wasn't directed at anyone."
The tweet has drawn almost 70,000 retweets, and clearly many saw it as implicit criticism of Kessel not being named to the roster following impressive showings in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
It's not the case for management and certainly not for their head coach, but it is easy to feel empathy for the players.
A flameout engendering an inescapable firestorm, the U.S squad that was swiftly eliminated from the World Cup must answer the questions, contribute to the ongoing discussion surrounding reform, try not to stare blankly as they are presented with myriad theories about the state of USA Hockey, and even comment on Phil Kessel's social media presence.
All in a 48-hour stretch they probably wouldn't wish on their fiercest rivals.
They must continue with routines, a practice, and a morning skate before suiting up for a meaningless game versus the Czech Republic on Thursday in the final round robin game of the tournament - which just happens to be played on the same day many training camps for their paid gigs begin in cities all across North America.
These players are trapped in a scenario that sets them up to welcome more scorn.
So how does one manage this unenviable position?
"I think our focus really needs to be on finishing this tournament on a positive note," Derek Stepan told theScore. "Not for you guys or anyone else, but for the 23 guys in that room."
It's Kyle Palmieri that may have it the worst. He's going through the process without knowing if he'll even be in the lineup with a chance to make a difference on the ice.
But if the New Jersey Devils forward does dress in a second straight contest after being a scratch in the team's opening loss to Team Europe, he doesn't plan on taking the rare opportunity to wear the stars and stripes lightly.
"You have a lot of pride as a hockey player, and as a competitor," he told theScore. "You never want to lose a game. It doesn’t matter if it’s for the World Cup, the gold medal, even if it’s a meaningless (game) to finish third place or fourth place in your group.
"I think for us, representing the USA, we let a lot of people down. The guys in the room are disappointed in the outcome of this tournament, but we have a chance to finish on a strong note, and hopefully we go out and do that tomorrow night."
It really is to their credit how the Americans have handled the embarrassment of losing consecutive games by a combined score of 7-2. Those selected to return to the media room barely 12 hours after being eliminated at the hands of Canada did so with ultimate class, and a willingness to answer questions candidly.
It remains anyone's guess how they will perform on the ice Thursday versus the Czechs, but if they show well, you can bet it will be for the sake of one another.
Clarkson, 32, was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015 in exchange for injured winger Nathan Horton. He appeared in 23 games with the Blue Jackets last season, scoring four points.
Clarkson has four years remaining on his contract with an annual cap hit of $5.25 million.
Plenty of blame is being passed around for the United States' failure at the World Cup of Hockey, but attributing it to the format of the tournament is a cop-out that fails to address USA Hockey's real, preventable problems.
On the morning after a 4-2 loss to Canada that eliminated the U.S. from advancing to the semi-final, more than one media member pinned the Americans' failure to advance past the group stage on the fact that it wasn't able to select young stars because of the creation of Team North America.
I love 23U team and glad it's here but it hurt Team USA. Five guys would have been on this team.
Did it hurt not to have the under-24 stars? Absolutely. But blaming the NHL for creating the most exciting team and best story of the tournament lets USA Hockey off the hook, rather than holding the governing body accountable for problems it created for itself.
The bigger and certainly more preventable issues were the construction of the U.S. squad and the lineup decisions made during the tournament.
The emphasis on grit over speed put the World Cup squad at a now-obvious disadvantage.
Considering USA Hockey's prioritization of intimidation over more skill, who's to say each and every one of the talented young American stars on Team North America would even be named to the American squad if that were possible?
The U.S. brain trust, led by Los Angeles Kings general manager Dean Lombardi, knew full well it wouldn't have access to the young guns and still passed up a slew of proven players who would unquestionably have improved the World Cup team.
Naming John Tortorella - who won a Stanley Cup 12 years ago but has underwhelmed since - as U.S. head coach was another questionable decision, and his lineups during the team's brief, two-game stretch of relevance predictably justified that concern.
He made Byfuglien (the most productive American defenseman in the NHL last season) and Kyle Palmieri (a 30-goal scorer) healthy scratches for the opener, and the United States was subsequently shut out 3-0 by Team Europe.
He slotted Kane, the Hart Trophy winner as the NHL's MVP last season, on to a line with Abdelkader in practice prior the U.S. loss to Canada before coming to his senses during the game.
Tortorella benched Dubinsky for the Canada game, despite the prevailing notion that the forward was named to the roster specifically because of his ability to get under the skin of Sidney Crosby.
The players underwhelmed - albeit in an extremely small sample size - but the blame shouldn't be exclusively directed at them, nor at the league for creating Team North America.
The U.S. World Cup squad would have absolutely been better equipped with the American young stars, but the rules of the tourney were completely out of their control.
USA Hockey needs to be held accountable for a flawed team philosophy that led to questionable roster selections, and for choosing a coach who arguably hindered his team's chances of winning.
Blaming the American flop on anything else misses the point.
Following Team USA's 4-2 elimination loss to Team Canada at the World Cup, and a Twitter user's suggestion that he should be more critical after his omission from the roster, Ryan took a shot at the U.S. hockey organization.
@dipduncs nah..kill USA hockey with kindness and maybe they'll let me play over 35 adult worlds if I'm not a defensive liability by then.
Ryan, a four-time 30-plus-goal scorer, recorded 56 points with the Ottawa Senators last season, and participated with Team USA on three occasions, most recently the 2012 World Championships. However, he was left off the 2014 Olympics squad, after Brian Burke, now a senior advisor with USA Hockey, criticized his lack of intensity.
Ryan's tweet is the latest backlash against the organization. General manager Dean Lombardi envisioned a roster that could best Team Canada, opting to build for size and grit, and leaving fewer spots for talented goal-scorers like Ryan and Kessel.
Team USA was eliminated after losing its first two games, scoring just twice while allowing a combined seven goals.
theScore is previewing each team leading up to the 2016-17 season.
The Minnesota Wild added Bruce Boudreau as head coach, who now faces a key assignment in getting more goals out of his new lineup. The Wild were among the best defensively last season, but finished 20th league-wide in offense.
Here's what the Wild's lineup looks like going into the 2016-17 season:
Forwards
LW
C
RW
Zach Parise
Eric Staal
Charlie Coyle
Jason Zucker
Mikko Koivu
Jason Pominville
Mikael Granlund
Erik Haula
Nino Niederreiter
Jordan Schroeder
Zac Dalpe
Chris Stewart
Eric Staal and Chris Stewart highlight the changes up front, with both bringing a different flavor to the offensive ranks. Boudreau believes Staal can rediscover his scoring touch in Minnesota, while Stewart provides size and an agitating quality on the wing. Young forward Mikael Granlund continues to make strides, posting a career-high 44 points last season.
Defense
LD
RD
Ryan Suter
Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin
Matt Dumba
Marco Scandella
Nate Prosser
Christian Folin
The Wild didn't make any changes on the blueline, but at the same time, the team didn't need to, as defense remains its strength. Boudreau sees a lesser workload for Ryan Suter, believing it will allow him to be fresher in his performances in the latter stages of the season. Nate Prosser and Christian Folin, both right-handed shots, could split minutes on the bottom pairing.
Goalies
G
Devan Dubnyk
Darcy Kuemper
Devan Dubnyk didn't keep up his Vezina-nominee numbers from the previous season, but his 32-26-4 record and .918 save percentage was hardly a point of concern. Darcy Kuemper is a reliable fill-in when needed.
NHL Depth Charts
ANA| ARI | BOS | BUF | CGY CAR | CHI | COL | CBS | DAL DET | EDM | FLA | LA | MIN MTL | NSH | NJD | NYI | NYR PHI | PIT | OTT | STL | SJ TB | TOR | VAN | WSH | WIN
Among the reported reasons as to why the forward elected to head back across the Atlantic, is that Nichushkin did not want to play for Ruff. The claim comes as a surprise to the Stars head coach given how exit interviews went at the end of the year.
"I was actually surprised, I thought we were communicating well," Ruff said, according to Mike Heika of Sportsday. "Our last meeting, Val told me he understood the situation and he had things he wanted to work on in the summer. I thought the conversation was great."
A rift between Nichushkin and Ruff was reported last season after the Russian forward was reportedly unhappy with his ice time. However, Ruff feels Nichushkin received adequate minutes and, ultimately, any reason for his decreased ice time was because of the strong play of others.
"A guy like (Mattias) Janmark came in and played so well, same with (Radek) Faksa and (Stephen) Johns. They forced us to make decisions. Other young players didn't do that," Ruff said. "I take a lot of pride in how I communicate with the players, and I really think I did that with Val. Some decisions are hard for coaches."
All things said, Ruff insists that if and when the opportunity presents itself, he will welcome the 2013 first-round pick back with open arms.
"I'd be more than happy to have him back, because I really like what he has to offer," Ruff said.