OTTAWA -- Trey Augustine knew the pressure was going to come from the drop of the puck Tuesday.
The United States goalie and Detroit Red Wings prospect said it was the best thing for him.
On the first shift of the final preliminary-round game, Canada forward Calum Ritchie (Colorado Avalanche) put a hard shot on net, and with forward Easton Cowan (Toronto Maple Leafs) crowding him, looking for a rebound, Augustine held strong, made the save and got a whistle.
"It was definitely nice," Augustine said. "I think it just kind of relaxes you a little bit."
Those good vibes carried throughout the game, as Augustine made 38 saves in 4-1 win at Canadian Tire Centre on the final day of preliminary-round play.
The victory allowed the U.S. to clinch the top spot in Group A and advance to a quarterfinal game against Switzerland on Thursday (2:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5).
"Made the timely saves the guys needed, and they obviously helped me out too," Augustine said. "I just thought it was a good team win."
It was a good team win because Augustine was able to move past the struggles he had in his first two games. He allowed four goals on 22 shots in a 10-4 win against Germany in the tournament opener Dec. 26, and four goals on 44 shots in a 4-3 overtime loss to Finland on Sunday.
He had allowed seven goals in four games to help the U.S. win the gold medal at the 2024 WJC.
"He was dynamic tonight," U.S. coach David Carle said. "The one (goal) they get on him, it's a wide open net at the end of a [penalty kill] where he's been pretty good on it. He was lights out. Really happy for him and proud of his effort, his ability to respond from the first two games because he's his own hardest critic. For him to bounce back like that was big time."
The process of bouncing back began Monday when Augustine watched video with goaltending coach David Lassonde, and they were able to get some work on the ice.
There were two areas they focused on. First was the technical side.
"Maybe a little bit of glove positioning, maybe stiffness in the hand," Lassonde said. "Just his overall presentation, a little stiffness in his upper body. Maybe his hand positioning wasn't necessarily ... were they too far back? Were they out far enough? What was his [glove] finger position? Was it 12 o'clock?"
But there were some mental adjustments as well.
"We talked a little bit about maybe in certain situations being more in attack mode, rather than being a little passive," Lassonde said. "It's a mental thing, because if you're in attack mode mentally, it's probably going to translate to what you do physically. And I thought that he got to his spots really well today. I thought he tracked pucks real well today.
"And I give him full credit that he realized what he needed to do to help us success tonight and he did it."
It's Augustine's ability to self-diagnose the flaws in his game that make him one of the top goaltending prospects outside the NHL.
"He knows when something doesn't go right, why it didn't go right," Lassonde said. "And he has an unbelievable ability to move on and to figure out, 'OK, this is what I need to fix.'"
The success of that repair work became more evident as the game went on. With 15:21 in the second period, he tracked a Ritchie net drive and got his right shoulder on a shot after Ritchie faked an attempt to the goalie's left. Then with 1:20 remaining in the period, he made a pad save on a shot by Tanner Molendyk (Nashville Predators) and held off several Canada players lurking for a rebound.
"He's always there for us in big games and definitely bailed us out a few times today," U.S. defenseman Cole Hutson (Washington Capitals) said.
The big saves in the big moments was another point of discussion between Augustine and Lassonde.
"One of the things that I've always talked to him about in all the years I've worked with him is, as the goalie ... it's important that you recognize there are certain times during the course of the game where your antenna needs to go up, and you know that, 'I have to find a way to make a save in those situations.' I call it winning time. He knows what that is. We talk about it all the time.
"I thought that he recognized those situations in the game today that were winning-time moments, and he handled them in Trey-like fashion."
Augustine had heard some doubters after his rough first two games, and Carle was asked if he had considered starting Hampton Slukynsky (Los Angeles Kings) on Tuesday.
And hours after Augustine and the U.S. had lost to Finland, Canada goalie Carter George (Los Angeles Kings) made 25 saves in a 3-0 win against Germany.
After that game, Canada defenseman Oliver Bonk (Philadelphia Flyers) said his team had "hands down" the best goalie at the World Juniors.
George made 24 saves Tuesday.
Hutson, who scored the first goal for the U.S., smiled when that quote was relayed to him.
"[Augustine] was definitely the better guy tonight," he said. "I'm taking Trey any day of the week."
