TORONTO – Five different players scored and 12 players in total tallied points to lead the U.S. National Junior Team to a 5-2 victory over Slovakia here tonight at Air Canada Centre in its second preliminary-round game of the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship.
“Our guys came to play and it was nice to see them get rewarded,” said Bob Motzko (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud State University), head coach of the 2017 U.S. National Junior Team. “Nobody’s satisfied though and I think that’s the right attitude as we continue here in the tournament.. We know our best hockey is yet to come and we’ll look for more improvements tomorrow versus Russia.”
Team USA (2-0-0-0) returns to action tomorrow (Dec. 29) against Russia. Puck drop is set for 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised live on NHL Network
For the complete game recap, click here.
Team USA Schedule
2017 IIHF World Junior Championship
Date Opponent Time (ET)/Result Round Location
Wed., Dec. 21 Switzerland W, 4-3 Pre-Tournament Oshawa, Ont.
Fri., Dec. 23 Czech Republic W, 4-0 Pre-Tournament Oshawa, Ont.
Mon., Dec. 26 Latvia W, 6-1 Preliminary Toronto, Ont.
Wed., Dec. 28 Slovakia W, 5-2 Preliminary Toronto, Ont.
Thurs., Dec. 29 Russia 3:30 p.m. Preliminary Toronto, Ont.
Sat., Dec. 31 Canada 3:30 p.m. Preliminary Toronto, Ont.
Mon., Jan. 2 TBD TBD Quarterfinals TBD
Wed., Jan. 4 TBD TBD Semifinals Montreal, Que.
Thurs., Jan. 5 TBD 3:30 p.m. Bronze-Medal Game Montreal, Que.
TBD 8:00 p.m. Gold-Medal Game Montreal, Que.
NOTES: Jack Roslovic was named U.S. Player of the Game … Team USA outshot Slovakia, 50-20 while finishing 1-for-5 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill … For full game stats, click here … At the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, the U.S. is competing in Group B alongside Canada, Latvia, Russia and Slovakia. All U.S. games will be broadcast live on NHL Network … For complete coverage of Team USA at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, click here … Use the hashtag #USAWJC on Twitter to join the conversation about the 2017 U.S. National Junior Team.
