| U.S. Edges Czech Republic, 3-1, in 2019 WJC Quarterfinals | ||
| U.S. to play Russia-Slovakia winner in Friday’s 4 p.m. ET semifinal | ||
| VICTORIA, British Columbia – Noah Cates (Stillwater, Minn./University of Minnesota Duluth) opened the scoring, Josh Norris (Oxford, Mich./University of Michigan) netted the eventual game winner and Sasha Chmelevski (Northville, Mich./Ottawa 67’s) sealed the game with an empty-net goal as the U.S. National Junior Team beat the Czech Republic, 3-1, in its quarterfinals contest of the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship.”We knew if we put together a good 60 minutes of hockey that we’d be able to get the job done and our team was rewarded with a hard-fought victory here tonight,” said Mike Hastings (Crookston, Minn.), head coach of the 2019 U.S. National Junior Team. “We keep saying this process is about continuing to take steps and that’s the opportunity we’ve given ourselves. We’re on to the next round and have the chance to continue writing our own history. We’ll enjoy this tonight, but come tomorrow our focus turns towards the semifinal.”With the win, the U.S. (4-0-1-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) will move to Vancouver tomorrow where it will meet the winner of the Russia-Slovakia game on Friday (Jan. 4). Puck drop for that game will be 1 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET) at Rogers Arena and be televised live on NHL Network. This is the fourth-consecutive year the U.S. advances to the semifinal round after advancing to win gold in 2017 and bronze in 2016 and 2018.For the complete game recap, click here.2019 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship Team USA Schedule – Dec. 26, 2018 – Jan. 5, 2019 – Vancouver & Victoria, B.C. All U.S. Tournament Games To Be Televised Live on NHL NetworkDateOpponent & RoundTime (ET)/ResultLocationThurs., Dec. 20Russia Pre-TournamentW, 3-2Kamloops, B.C. Sandman CentreSat., Dec. 22Czech Republic Pre-TournamentW, 6-2Langley, B.C. Langley Event CentreWed., Dec. 26Slovakia PreliminaryW, 2-1Victoria, B.C. Save-On-Foods Memorial CentreFri., Dec. 28Kazakhstan PreliminaryW, 8-2Victoria, B.C. Save-On-Foods Memorial CentreSat., Dec. 29Sweden PreliminaryOTL, 4-5Victoria, B.C. Save-On-Foods Memorial CentreMon., Dec. 31Finland PreliminaryW, 4-1Victoria, B.C. Save-On-Foods Memorial CentreWed., Jan. 2Czech Republic QuarterfinalW, 3-1Victoria, B.C. Save-On-Foods Memorial CentreFri., Jan. 4Russia-Slovakia Winner Semifinal4:00 p.m.Vancouver, B.C. Rogers ArenaSat., Jan. 5Bronze-Medal Game4:00 p.m.Vancouver, B.C. Rogers ArenaGold-Medal Game8:00 p.m.Vancouver, B.C. Rogers Arena NOTES: Forward Noah Cates was tabbed U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. outshot the Czech Republic, 38-19, went 0-for-3 on the power play and 0-for-1 on the penalty kill. For complete game statistics, click here … Russia (1A) and Slovakia (4B) play at 10:30 p.m. eastern time while the other side of the bracket will see Finland (3B) meet Switzerland (4A) after the Fins defeated Canada (2A) (2-1, OT) and the Swiss edged Sweden (1B) (2-0) … John Vanbiesbrouck (Detroit, Mich.), assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey, is serving as the general manager of the U.S. National Junior Team … The U.S. enters the tournament having medaled in three straight World Junior Championships for the first time in U.S. history after earning gold in 2017 and bronze in 2018 and 2016 … NHL Network is the official U.S. broadcaster of the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship … For more information about the tournament, click here. (USA Hockey Photo) |
