MONTHEY, Switzerland – Clayton Keller (Swansea, Ill.) scored two goals as the U.S. National Under-18 Team bested Finland, 5-2, here this afternoon at Patinoire de Monthey. With the win, the United States improves to 3-0 at the 2015 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament.
Ryan Lindgren (Minneapolis, Minn.) put the U.S. on the board just 16 seconds into the contest. Kieffer Bellows (Edina, Minn.) assisted on the play. With one second remaining in the opening period, Keller struck for the United States to double the lead, 2-0, heading into intermission. Chad Krys (Ridgefield, Conn.) earned the helper.
Finland cut the U.S. advantage in half, 2-1, right out of the gate in the second stanza. But the United States responded by tallying three goals in just over three minutes to chase starting Finnish goaltender, Severi Isokangas, from the game. Adam Fox (Jericho, N.Y.) found Joey Anderson (Roseville, Minn.) for a power-play marker at 1:34 before Krys connected with Keller once more, this time for a shorthanded goal, at 3:36. James Sanchez (Northbrook, Ill.) followed at 4:50 with assists going to Fox and Graham McPhee (Bethesda, Md.). Finland added a late power-play goal to bring the score to within three, 5-2.
A penalty-filled third period saw no goals and U.S. netminder Jake Oettinger (Lakeville, Minn.) stopped the three shots he faced to close out the victory. Oettinger made 12 saves total in the win.
The U.S. National Under-18 Team concludes round-robin play tomorrow (Nov. 8) versus host Switzerland. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET at Patinoire de Monthey.
Notes: Forward Joey Anderson was recognized as Best Player of the Game for the United States … Team USA outshot Finland, 60-14 … The U.S. went 1-for-11 on the power play while killing off 3-of-4 Finnish advantages … The United States roster is made up entirely of members of the 2015-16 U.S. National Under-18 Team, part of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program based in Plymouth, Michigan. A complete United States roster can be found here … Team USA is competing against teams from the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland in the round-robin tournament … Traditionally, the November international event is a Four Nations Tournament, an event the U.S. has won seven of the last eight times … The official tournament website can be found here … Follow @USAHockeyNTDP and @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for tournament updates and join the conversation on social media by using the #5NationsU18 tag.
Team USA Schedule – 2015 Five Nations Tournament
Nov. 4 – 8 | Monthey, Switzerland
Date Opponent Venue Time (ET) / Result
Weds., Nov. 4 Czech Republic Patinoire de Monthey W, 3-1
Thurs., Nov. 5 Sweden Patinoire de Monthey W, 4-3
Sat., Nov. 7 Finland Patinoire de Monthey W, 5-2
Sun., Nov. 8 Switzerland Patinoire de Monthey 10:30 a.m.
