Thursday is the third day of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held at Scandinavium and Frolundaborg in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Day 3 games
United States 11, Switzerland 3 -- Jimmy Snuggerud, who was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the first round (No. 23) of the 2022 NHL Draft, had three goals and an assist for the United States in a Group B preliminary-round game at Frolundaborg.
Gavin Brindley (Columbus Blue Jackets) had two goals and an assist, Isaac Howard (Tampa Bay Lightning), Quinn Finley (New York Islanders) and Zeev Buium (2024 NHL Draft eligible) each had a goal and an assist, and Frank Nazar (Chicago Blackhawks) had four assists for the United States (2-0-0-0).
"I think I was just kind of shooting anything that I could on [Switzerland goalie Lorin Gruter]," Snuggerud said. "He's obviously on his off-hand, too, so it's a little different from normal, but I think just getting pucks to the net. (Linemates) Rutger (McGroarty) and Cutter (Gauthier) were there for me."
The United States has won 24 times with two ties in 26 games against Switzerland at the WJC.
Gregory Weber (2024 eligible) had a goal and an assist for Switzerland (0-0-0-2).
The U.S. scored five goals on 14 shots in the first period.
"I think we were just making plays early," Snuggerud said. "Obviously, we didn't have a great start (in a 4-1 win against Norway on Tuesday) and we talked as a line. We wanted to come on strong tonight, so Cutter and Rutger were making strong plays, and luckily a few went in."
Will Smith (San Jose Sharks) opened the scoring from the bottom of the left face-off circle at 1:20 of the first. Snuggerud then scored on a shot at the left post at 3:21, and again from the slot at 8:11 to make it 3-0.
Weber pulled Switzerland to within 3-1 on a snap shot just inside the right post from the slot at 9:17, but Snuggerud responded with his third goal on a wrist shot from the high slot at 12:36 to push it to 4-1.
Gruter (four goals allowed on 10 shots) was replaced by Ewan Huet (2024 NHL Draft eligible) after Snuggerud's third goal. Huet, the son of former NHL goalie Cristobal Huet, finished with 23 saves.
Buium, an A-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's preliminary players to watch list and a projected first-round pick in the 2024 draft, pushed it to 5-1 at 18:29 when his attempt to pass the puck from low in the right circle deflected off the skate of a Switzerland defenseman and into the net.
The United States extended the lead to 9-1 with four goals on 15 shots in the second period.
Brindley made it 6-1 on a snap shot from the slot at 5:06, and Ryan Leonard (Washington Capitals) scored a power-play goal at 9:33 to make it 7-1.
Brindley then pushed it to 8-1 at 10:04 before Howard scored his second of the tournament at 14:55.
Finley and Eric Pohlkamp (San Jose Sharks) scored in the third period for the United States. Gael Christe and Thierry Schild scored in the third for Switzerland.
The McGroarty-Gauthier-Snuggerud line combined for eight points (three goals, five assists).
“I just thought they were on it," U.S. coach David Carle said. "They were moving their feet. I thought Rutger looked better, much more comfortable, had more timing than the first night, and to me that was a big difference.”
Jacob Fowler (Montreal Canadiens) made 21 saves for the U.S. in his WJC debut.
“He made some big saves," Carle said. "I thought he was very good throughout the night, had to make some big ones in the second period. I thought he was good when he needed to be for us.”
The United States next plays Czechia on Friday (11 a.m. ET). Switzerland will face Norway on Saturday (11 a.m. ET).
Sweden 5, Germany 0 -- Otto Stenberg, a forward selected by the Blues in the first round (No. 25) of the 2023 NHL Draft, had a hat trick for Sweden in a Group A game at Scandinavium.
Mattias Havelid (San Jose Sharks) had a goal and an assist, David Edstrom (Vegas Golden Knights) and Felix Unger Sorum (Carolina Hurricanes) each had two assists, and Melker Thelin (Arizona Coyotes) made 15 saves for Sweden (2-0-0-0).
Matthias Bittner made 36 saves for Germany (1-0-0-1), which was coming off the first major upset of the tournament with a 4-3 win against Finland on Wednesday.
Stenberg scored on a snap shot from the slot to give Sweden a 1-0 lead at 15:48 of the first period.
Havelid, a defenseman, pushed it to 2-0 on a slap shot from the top of the right face-off circle at 18:36 of the second period.
Stenberg made it 3-0 at 6:16 of the third period, scoring a power-play goal on a one-timer from the slot after taking a pass from Unger Sorum from the right circle. The 18-year-old, who has six points (three goals, three assists) in 22 games with Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League this season, extended the lead to 4-0 with his third goal at 9:02 of the third.
Noah Ostlund (Buffalo Sabres) scored on a wrist shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle at 14:33 for the 5-0 final.
Sweden next faces Canada with first place in Group A on the line on Friday (1:30 p.m. ET). Germany will play Latvia on Saturday (1:30 p.m. ET).
All games are being broadcast on NHL Network in the U.S. and on TSN in Canada.
