MAGNITOGORSK, Russia – Forward Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla./USAH NTDP) recorded three points and Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass./USAH NTDP) scored twice for the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team in its 6-4 loss to Canada on Thursday night in the preliminary round opening game of the 2018 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship at Metallurg Ice Rink.
“We can take a lot from this game,” said U.S. head coach Seth Appert (Cottage Grove, Minn./USAH NTDP). “We were a bit nervous and hyper and we need to clean up some of the mistakes but I liked how we responded in the third period and we will respond to the adversity of this loss tomorrow.”
Team USA got on the board first when Joel Farabee (Cicero, N.Y./USAH NTDP) fired a one-time shot past Canadian goaltender Colten Ellis to give Team USA a 1-0 lead at the 4:56 mark of the opening period. Cole Caufield (Stevens Point, Wis./USAH NTDP) fed a pass from the left corner to a streaking Farabee. Jake Wise (Reading, Mass./USAH NTDP) also picked up an assist on the play.
Following the opening tally, U.S. goaltender Drew DeRidder (Fenton, Mich./USAH NTDP) made several stops as Team USA killed three penalties, including a 5-on-3 power play.
Canada tied the game at the 15:59 mark to leave teams deadlocked 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
Team USA opened the second period by drawing two penalties for a 5-on-3 power play advantage. Wahlstrom capitalized in the final seconds of the second power play to give Team USA a 2-1 lead at 4:14. Jonathan Gruden (Rochester Mich./USAH NTDP) and Hughes earned assists on the play.
Canada followed by scoring three straight goals to take a 4-2 lead into the second intermission.
Wahlstrom scored his second power play goal of the night 6:40 into the third period to cut the lead to 4-3 when he fired a one-time shot off a feed from Cam York (Anaheim Hills, Calif./USAH NTDP) into the back of the net. Hughes also earned an assist on the play.
Hughes picked up his third point of the night after ripping a shot high short-side to knot the game at 4-4 at the 9:35 mark off a feed from Gruden.
Canada broke the tie at the 10:53 mark and added an empty netter at 19:41 to account for the 6-4 final.
DeRidder ended the game with 19 saves on 24 shots.
Team USA plays its next preliminary round game tomorrow against Switzerland. Opening faceoff is set for 3:30 p.m. local (6:30 a.m. ET) and can be seen live on NHL Network.
Team USA Schedule
2018 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship
Date Opponent Round Location Time (Local/ET) Television
April 19 Canada Preliminary Metallurg Ice Rink
Magnitogorsk, Russia L, 4-6 NHL Network
April 20 Switzerland Preliminary Metallurg Ice Rink
Magnitogorsk, Russia 3:30 p.m./6:30 a.m. NHL Network
April 22 Sweden Preliminary Metallurg Ice Rink
Magnitogorsk, Russia 3:30 p.m./6:30 a.m. NHL Network
April 24 Belarus Preliminary Metallurg Ice Rink
Magnitogorsk, Russia 3:30 p.m./6:30 a.m. NHL Network
April 26 TBD Quarterfinals TBD TBD NHL Network
April 28 TBD Semifinals Traktor Ice Rink
Chelyabinsk, Russia TBD NHL Network
April 29 TBD Gold/Bronze Medal Games Traktor Ice Rink
Chelyabinsk, Russia TBD NHL Network
NOTES: Full recap, highlights, interviews and box score can be found here … The U.S. outshot Canada 35-25 … Team USA went 2-4 on the power play and held Canada scoreless on four power play attempts … Team USA now holds an all-time record of 9-2-2-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L) against Canada … The U.S. is 60-0-1-16-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) in preliminary games … Wahlstrom was named the Team USA Player of the Game … For complete tournament information, visit the IIHF website. … The U.S. enters the tournament having captured a record 14 consecutive medals, including gold medals in seven of the last nine years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017) … Team USA has won 10 gold medals all-time, the most of any country in IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship history. The event began in 1999. Team USA earned its first gold medal in 2002 … Follow @USAHockey on Twitter for live scoring updates during the tournament. Scores will be designated with the #U18Worlds tag … For additional coverage, visit the USA Hockey Facebook page and Instagram account.
