USA's Jack Hughes plays against Bowling Green in Plymouth, Mich., on November 21, 2018. Team USA coach Mike Hastings says he's waiting until game time on Monday before deciding whether injured forward Jack Hughes will be in the lineup against Finland in the final round-robin game of the world junior hockey championship. Hughes, touted to be a top pick in the 2019 NHL draft, has missed two games in a row with an undisclosed injury. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Carlos Osorio
Republished December 31, 2018 - 6:59 PM
Original Publication Date December 31, 2018 - 2:01 PM
VICTORIA - The United States' team was without centre Jack Hughes for Monday's game against Finland at the world junior hockey championship.
It was the third consecutive game an undisclosed injury kept the highly-touted forward from the U.S. line up at the tournament.
U.S. coach Mike Hastings said earlier Monday he would wait until game time before deciding whether Hughes would dress in the final round-robin game of the tournament.
Hughes, expected to be a top pick in the 2019 NHL draft, has missed games against Sweden and Kazakhstan.
Hughes was on the ice wearing a regular practice jersey during a pre-game skate Monday morning at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
On Saturday, Hastings described Hughes' injury progress as day-to-day and added the centre was in good spirits despite missing games.
Hastings said before the game that the U.S. squad was trying to build on its 5-4 overtime defeat against Sweden on Saturday.
The Americans were down 4-0 but mounted a wild comeback in the third period before losing in overtime.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2018