The work hasn’t stopped for Washington Capitals forward Ryan Leonard, who is representing Team USA at the IIHF World Championships in Switzerland.
And despite a loss to the host country in the preliminary round Friday, he did what he could to stand out.
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Leonard led all forwards with 17:12 minutes of ice time and had one shot on goal, while totaling four penalty minutes and helping quarterback the power play in a 3-1 loss to Switzerland. Alex Steeves had the lone goal for the Americans.
The 21-year-old got into it with former Capitals prospect Damian Riat at the end of the game, and had a run-in with Nico Hischier earlier on in the matchup. He received two minutes for roughing and an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Leonard, who is coming off a 20-goal, 45-point campaign, finished eighth in Calder Trophy voting this past week as the NHL’s rookie of the year. He received one third-place vote, four fourth-place votes and 19 fifth-place votes.
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Amid injuries and players opting for rest, Leonard is the only Washington skater playing in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Team Canada, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery serving as an assistant and goaltending coach Scott Murray also on board, rallied for a 5-3 win in their preliminary game against Sweden on Friday. Connor Brown had the game-winning goal.
Team USA will face Great Britain and Canada will take on Italy as both teams continue with the preliminary round on Saturday.