COBOURG, Ont. – Ryan Bednard (Macomb, Mich./Youngstown Phantoms) stopped all 17 shots he faced as the U.S. Junior Select Team blanked Czech Republic, 6-0, Monday night in its opening game of the 2015 World Junior A Challenge.
“It was a solid team effort,” said Cary Eades (Fargo, N.D./Fargo Force), head coach of the U.S. Junior Select Team. “I thought the Czech Republic worked really hard and tried to minimize our chances against, but we wore them down as the game went on.”
Carson Meyer (Powell, Ohio/Tri-City Storm) put the U.S. on the board when he rocketed home a drop pass from Ross Colton (Robbinsville, N.J./Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) 1:55 into the game.
At 9:44 of the second frame, Max Zimmer (Medina, Minn./Chicago Steel) buried a wrist shot from the right circle during a U.S. power play to double Team USA’s lead. Later in the period, Colton and Andrew Peeke (Parkland, Fla./Green Bay Gamblers) scored back-to-back goals 22 seconds apart to give the U.S. a 4-0 cushion heading into the final frame.
Callahan Burke (Boxborough, Mass./Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) made it 5-0 when he collected a pass from Zimmer in the slot and put it past Czech Republic goaltender Dominik Groh 3:46 into the third period.
At 11:27, Rem Pitlick (Plymouth, Minn./Muskegon Lumberjacks) skated in on net and scored from the top of the crease to account for the 6-0 final.
Team USA will continue tournament play tomorrow (Dec. 15) when it takes on Canada West at 7 p.m. ET at the Cobourg Community Centre in Cobourg, Ontario.
Notes: The U.S. outshot Czech Republic, 39-17 … Team USA went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Czech Republic went 0-for-6 … Click here for complete game statistics … For more information on the U.S. Junior Select Team, click here … The 2015 World Junior A Challenge field includes Canada East, Canada West, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Russia and the United States … The World Junior A Challenge is in its tenth year, and the United States is competing for the ninth time. The U.S. has won six of the last seven tournaments (2008-2010, 2012-14).
