U-17 World Hockey Challenge Roundup: USA remains top dog with standings fight heating up
Sweden forces comeback win over Canada Black
Sweden only led the game once, but it was when it mattered most after coming from behind to beat Canada Black 4-3 to kick off Monday’s action.
After a slow start to the game that saw no goals scored in the first, a five-goal second-period explosion changed everything. Lucas Karmiris finally broke the ice at 23:58 on a breakaway scoring chance, but Lucas Pettersson answered back only 10 seconds later with a shot Louka Cloutier would want back.
Then, just 1:10 after that, Cole Beaudoin beat Hugo Laring with a shot between the wickets that Laring likely didn’t expect him to shoot on, giving Canada its advantage back. Bode Stewart doubled it with a breakaway goal two minutes later, a lead that lasted for another 11 minutes. That’s when Pettersson grabbed his second of the game, knocking in a rebound opportunity from Viggo Nordlund after he skated around three Canadians to create the chance.
Sweden started flinging anything they could at Cloutier to see what would stick, and with four minutes left in regulation, they tied things up. After Elliott Sigrell came up short with a wrister, Oscar Davidsson found the loose puck near the hashmarks and set it past Canada’s goaltender to make it a 3-3 game and force overtime.
In extra time, Emil Stadin’s wrister somehow beat Cloutier to secure the win, giving Sweden its first lead of the game – and when it mattered the most.
Finland stay strong with 3-1 win over Czechia
Finland has moved to third place in the tournament with a 3-1 win over Czechia.
The Czechs remain the only team without a point through three games, getting outscored 2-13 after a trio of rough outings.
The Finns needed just one shot to open the scoring. Emil Hemming made no mistake on his team’s opening chance, with his wrister beating Jakub Milota for the early goal. The score remained stagnant until 32:05, when Tuomas Suonemi scored to make it 2-0.
A bit of a cluster in the Czechia crease at 33:46 led to Lauri Sinivuori getting the last touch on a puck that a Czechian defender might have directly shot in, making it 3-0 Finland.
The Czechs have had a rough tournament, but Sebastian Glas gave them something to smile about at 37:04. After Maximilian Curran and Lukas Kral couldn’t find an opening, Glas eventually managed to beat Kim Saarinen for the 3-1 goal, giving Czechia just their second of the tournament.
Cole Eiserman chasing history after USA beats Canada Red 4-2
The United States now has a perfect 4-0 record after beating Canada Red 4-2 on Monday.
Canada Red falls to fourth after Finland’s victory against Czechia, with Red sitting with five points after four games.
The Americans struck first at 10:41 when a save by goaltender Jack Parsons eventually resulted in a scoring chance the other way. Austin Baker then found Christian Humphreys, who scored his third of the tournament to make it 1-0.
From there, USA’s top line took over. Like clockwork, James Hagens won the faceoff to Cole Hutson, who then found Cole Eiserman standing alone. Eiserman scored his tournament-leading eighth of the tournament to make it 2-0, a big power-play goal. Eiserman then returned the favor in the second. After splitting past two defenders, he made a quick touch-and-go with Hagens, who managed to score his first of the tournament at 33:24.
Canada got goals from Berkly Catton and Porter Martone before the halfway point of the third to make things interesting, but USA wasn’t done yet. With five minutes to go, Eiserman scored on his own rebound to restore the two-goal lead. Canada then struggled to find their footing, allowing Hagens to score again on the empty net to make it a 5-2 game.
Now with nine goals to his credit, Eiserman is within reaching distance of Alex Ovechkin’s tournament-leading 12 goals with three games left on the docket for the United States. USA’s Colin White had the best tournament ever, point-wise, with 18 points in 2013, so both Eiserman and Hagens have a bit of ways to go over the next three outings.
Three Stars
- James Hagens, F (USA): He’s here for the fourth time in the tournament, and for good reason. He’s having one of the best tournaments we’ve ever seen from a forward with 11 points in four games – including three tonight.
- Cole Eiserman, F (USA): Eiserman scored twice and added an assist to tie Hagens for the scoring lead. He’s chasing history, too.
- Lucas Pettersson, F (Sweden): Sweden needed someone to step up in the first 40 minutes, and Pettersson did with a two-goal night.