3 keys to success for U.S. against Kazakhstan in World Juniors

The NHL Network will provide live telecasts of all United States games during the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.
The U.S. will play the second of four games in Group B against Kazakhstan at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday (10:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN). The U.S. defeated Slovakia 2-1 on Wednesday. The playoff round begins Jan. 2.
Longtime NCAA hockey analyst Dave Starman, who will handle the broadcast along with Stephen Nelson, will give his three keys to victory for the United States before each of their games during the 11-day tournament.

"USA Hockey encourages skill development and we want our skill players to make plays and use those skills to impact games; to encourage otherwise would be self-defeating," Dave Starman said Thursday. "That said, a couple of our high-end skill guys would be better off shooting from the grade-A areas as opposed to overhandling pucks. After watching the tape against Slovakia, the U.S. left eight grade-A chances on stick blades as opposed to putting a quality shot on goal."
What does the U.S. (1-0-0-0) have to do better against Kazakhstan on Friday? Here are three areas to be addressed, according to Starman.
1. Better puck management
"The opening game of the World Juniors is notoriously tricky and sloppy, and this was at times. Part of it was finding chemistry among linemates and some of it was poor offensive-zone hockey sense and complicating the game. The U.S. needs to keep it wide, drive the net, don't overhandle and get pucks to the net faster before teams can align to defend."

2. Establish an offensive identity

"The Americans want to establish low-to-high plays quickly in the offensive zone, so they can stretch the zone and make teams chase to defend. That forces every line to be tenacious on the wall and that's part of the identity, and what former U.S. junior coach Bob Motzko referred to as 'the ground game.' If the defensive points start to get jammed, which Finland and Sweden can do well, it becomes important to release pucks to the opposite side of the ice below the goal line -- something the Nashville Predators do very well -- to force the coverage to scramble and sort out."

3. Don't lose Hughes

"University of Michigan coach Mel Pearson said it best about defenseman Quinn Hughes: 'Sometimes he paints pictures no one else can see.' What Pearson means is Hughes is so creative and quick in his decisions and actions that he can be hard to figure out regarding what he is thinking with the puck on his stick. Hughes can take over a shift. As the game against Slovakia wore on, one thing became obvious to teammates, when he had the puck and was in motion, you found open space and put your stick down. As the tournament moves along, I think his ability to out-think the coverage, combined with the understanding of his tendencies by teammates, will make him the X-factor of the whole tournament."