Sunday is the sixth day of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held at Scandinavium and Frolundaborg in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Day 6 games
United States 10, Slovakia 2 -- Rutger McGroarty, who was selected by the Winnipeg Jets with the No. 14 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, had a hat trick for the United States, which earned the top seed in Group B in Frolundaborg.
Gavin Brindley (Columbus Blue Jackets) had two goals and an assist, Isaac Howard (Tampa Bay Lightning) scored twice, Cutter Gauthier (Philadelphia Flyers) had a goal and two assists, Zeev Buium had a goal and an assist, and Lane Hutson (Montreal Canadiens) had three assists for the United States (3-1-0-0).
Trey Augustine (Detroit Red Wings) made 38 saves in his return to the U.S. lineup after missing a 4-3 shootout win against Czechia on Friday due to an illness.
The U.S., which was without forward Jimmy Snuggerud (illness) against Slovakia, outscored the opposition 29-9 in four preliminary-round games.
"It was huge for Rutger and Cutter to score their first goals (of the tournament), especially with Jimmy not in the lineup," U.S. coach David Carle said. "To score 10 without [Snuggerud] was big and there's no doubt we need scoring throughout our lineup. That's how you win single elimination tournaments."
The U.S. is 15-0-0-5 with one tie in 21 games against Slovakia at the World Junior Championship.
Samuel Urban allowed seven goals on 33 shots before being relieved by Rastislav Elias (eight saves) in the third period for Slovakia (3-0-0-1), which is the second seed in Group B. Slovakia was without starting goalie Adam Gajan (Chicago Blackhawks) for undisclosed reasons. Gajan had a 2.00 goals-against average and .934 save percentage with one shutout in three prior wins.
McGroarty, the U.S. captain, scored on a wraparound at the right post for a 1-0 lead at 6:21 of the first period.
Marian Mosko made it 1-1 for Slovakia on a shot from the left point at 8:57 into the first.
Buium, a freshman defenseman at Denver University and A rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's preliminary players to watch list for the 2024 NHL Draft, gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead on a wrist shot from the left circle at 10:13 of the first.
U.S. forward Gavin Hayes was then assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for kneeing Slovakia defenseman Milan Pisoja at 18:27 of the first, but the U.S. denied Slovakia on the ensuing 5-minute power play.
Gavin Brindley (Columbus Blue Jackets) pushed the lead to 3-1 on a shorthanded goal, capping an end-to-end rush with a snap shot from the right circle just 29 seconds into the second period.
"I thought Trey was our best player the first half of the game," Carle said. "They had some looks and some secondary looks and to kill off the five-minute major was obviously a huge moment in the game. Brindley's shorthanded goal to start the second was huge and we just kind of built into our third period
"We scored five in the third, didn't give up much and, again, when we did and there were maybe one or two Grade A's, Trey was there to kind of slam the door. So, this phase is over and we're on to the next phase."
Augustine made 19 saves in the second period, five within five feet of the net, including a sprawling right pad save against Filip Mesar (Montreal Canadiens) alone in the slot at 6:51.
"We all have great trust in Trey," U.S. forward Quinn Finley told NHL Network. "We all know what he's going to do back there, and we fully have all our trust in him. He's a great goaltender and we know we can count on him."
Mesar was able to pull Slovakia within 3-2 with a power-play goal on a shot from the right circle at 17:50 of the second.
Ryan Leonard and McGroarty scored 34 seconds apart to extend the lead to 5-2 in the second. Leonard controlled a pass from Will Smith (San Jose Sharks) down the slot and scored on a wrist shot at 18:20 before McGroarty scored from the bottom of the right circle at 18:54.
The U.S. scored five goals on 17 shots in the third period.
McGroarty scored his third goal at the right post off a backhand pass by Gauthier from behind the Slovakia net for a 6-2 lead at 4:06 of the third before Howard's snap shot from the high slot made it 7-2 at 5:49.
Brindley, Gauthier and Howard each scored in a span of 3:27 for the 10-2 final.
The U.S. won its seventh straight game on New Year's Eve at the World Juniors and is 21-10 with one tie in 32 matches.
“We’re going to win a medal … that’s all I got,” McGroarty said.
Each country will next play in the tournament quarterfinal round Tuesday. The U.S. will play Latvia (11 a.m. ET; NHLN, TSN), and Slovakia will face Finland (6 a.m. ET; NHLN, TSN3).
Finland 5, Sweden 4 (SO): Jani Nyman (Seattle Kraken) scored with 1:32 left in the third period and then scored the game-deciding shootout goal in a Group A game at Scandinavium.
Nyman, Finland's fifth shooter, deked and scored the winner between the pads of Sweden goalie Melker Thelin (Arizona Coyotes). Konsta Helenius (2024 draft eligible) also scored in the shootout
Nyman had tied the game at 18:28 of the third period. With goalie Noa Vali (2024 draft eligible) pulled for an extra attacker, Finland got the puck to the front of the net, and the forward scored off a pass through the slot from Kasper Halttunen (San Jose Sharks).
"It's huge for us as a team that we got this win and we know that we're able to win against any team here," Halttunen said.
Halttunen had a goal and two assists for Finland (1-1-0-2), and Lenni Hameenaho (New Jersey Devils) had a goal and an assist. Vali made 29 saves, plus four saves on five shots in the shootout.
Isac Born (2024 draft eligible), Jonathan Lekkerimaki (Vancouver Canucks), Theo Lindstein (St. Louis Blues) and Filip Bystedt (San Jose Sharks) scored for Sweden (3-0-1-0). Thelin made 25 saves, plus three saves on five shots in the shootout. Lekkerimaki had Sweden's only goal in the shootout.
Despite the loss, Sweden clinched first place in Group A and will play Switzerland, the fourth-place team in Group B, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday (1:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN). Finland will play Slovakia in another quarterfinal game (6 a.m. ET; NHLN, TSN3).
"A bad start, that hurt us," Sweden captain Liam Ohgren (Minnesota Wild) said. "But I think it's strong of us to come back. We played better in the second and showed that we have a strong group. It’s unfortunate that we give one up with one and a half minutes remaining."
Tommi Mannisto (2024 draft eligible) put Finland up 1-0 at 12:25 of the first period when he scored on the rebound of a Halttunen shot. It was the first goal Sweden allowed in its four tournament games, ending its shutout streak at 192:25.
Hameenaho made it 2-0 at 18:21.
Born scored for Sweden at 3:24 of the second period, and Lekkerimaki's power-play goal at 6:38 tied the game 2-2.
Halttunen scored eight seconds into a Finland power play for a 3-2 lead at 7:15, but Lindstein tied the game 3-3 at 8:59.
Bystedt's power-play goal gave Sweden its only lead of the game, 4-3 at 14:53 of the third period.
Czechia 4, Switzerland 2 -- Jiri Kulich (Buffalo Sabres) and Tomas Hamara (Ottawa Senators) each scored in the third period to help Czechia secure the third seed in Group B.
Kulich scored from the slot at 12:47 for a 3-2 lead, and Hamara pushed it to 4-2 on a snap shot from the top of the left face-off circle at 15:18. Each player also added an assist.
Matyas Melovsky, a C-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's preliminary players to watch list and a projected fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and Ondrej Becher (2024 eligible) each had two assists and Michael Hrabal (Arizona Coyotes) made 17 saves for Czechia (2-0-1-1).
Rodwin Dionicio (Anaheim Ducks) had two assists and Alessio Beglieri made 31 saves for Switzerland (1-0-0-3), which is seeded fourth in Group B and will next play Sweden (3-0-0-1) in the quarterfinal round Tuesday (1:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
Matyas Sapovaliv (Vegas Golden Knights) scored a power-play goal on a shot from the slot to give Czechia a 1-0 lead 12:04 into the first period.
Robin Sapousek made it 2-0 on a snap shot at the right post on a delayed penalty (6-on-5) at 10:05 of the second period.
Simon Meier pulled Switzerland within 2-1 when he skated down his left wing and scored from a wide angle. Hrabal misplayed the puck, which deflected off the stick at the left post and into the net on his short side at 14:26 of the second.
Switzerland’s Julien Rod made it 2-2 for on a shot at the right post after Hrabal lost his stick at 19:03 of the second.
Czechia will play Canada in the quarterfinals (8:30 a.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
Canada 6, Germany 3: Macklin Celebrini, expected to be the No. 1 pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, scored two goals to help Canada clinch second place in Group A at Scandinavium.
Brayden Yager (Pittsburgh Penguins) had a goal and an assist, and Owen Beck (Montreal Canadiens), Jordan Dumais (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Easton Cowan (Toronto Maple Leafs) scored for Canada (3-0-0-1). Mathis Rousseau (2024 draft eligible) made 17 saves.
"They're a good team," Celebrini said. "They gave us a really good challenge, they pushed us. Their goalie played amazing. I feel like it was a really good game for us."
Julian Lutz (Arizona Coyotes) had a goal and an assist for Germany (1-0-0-3), and Roman Kechter (2024 draft eligible) and Julius Sumpf (2024 draft eligible) scored. Matthias Bittner (2024 draft eligible) made 29 saves.
"We believed in our group, that's for sure," Lutz said. "We wanted to play as simple as possible, get every puck over the red line and be patient. We did a great job. I mean, how many minutes of the game did we play tied with Canada? We're disappointed we couldn't get a tie but I'm really proud of our group."
Canada will play Czechia in the quarterfinals Tuesday (8:30 a.m. ET; NHLN, TSN). Germany will play Norway in the one-game relegation round Thursday.
Lutz gave Germany a 1-0 lead at 2:57 of the first period on a power-play goal after Canada forward Conor Geekie (Arizona Coyotes) had been assessed a major penalty for an illegal check to the head and a game misconduct 11 seconds into the game.
Celebrini tied the game at 6:20 after he picked up the puck at the top of the circles in Canada's end, skated into the high slot and beat Bittner.
Yager scored on the power play at 14:37 to put Canada ahead 2-1, but Germany tied it at 1:49 of the second period on a power-play goal by Kechter.
Beck, Canada's only returning player from its 2023 WJC victory, gave Canada a 3-2 lead at 1:40 of the third period.
Sumpf scored on the power play at 7:32 to tie it 3-3.
Dumais put Canada ahead 4-3 at 8:32 when he scored off the rebound of a shot by Matthew Poitras (Boston Bruins).
Celebrini made it 5-3 at 16:02 when he outraced Bittner to a loose puck deep in the Germany zone and scored from a sharp angle.
"Honestly I just tried to throw it at the net," Celebrini said. "I knew the goalie was out of the net so I just tried to put it on net."
Cowan scored an empty-net goal at 17:16 to close the scoring.
Germany played without forward Veit Oswald, who led them with two goals in the first three games, because of a one-game suspension by the IIHF for a check from behind against Latvia on Saturday.
Quick links
World Juniors Championship rosters
LNH.com staff writer Guillaume Lepage and NHL.com/sv independent correspondent Peter Ekholm contributed to this report
