Team USA pulled out an impressive Group B victory at WJC
Team USA won a big game over Slovakia at the World Junior Championships.
The World Juniors are wrapping up the round-robin portion of the tournament. Team USA was projected to be one of the better teams in the tournament and they turned out to be just that.
It took them some time to find their true chemistry. Being more talented allowed them to do so against some of the weaker teams but they had a battle against Czechia last game.
They won that game in a shootout to give themselves a chance to win Group B. To do that, they needed to beat an impressive Slovakia team that had been 3-0.
Slovakia looked like one of the potential surprise teams that could end up winning the group. They still could do well in the medal rounds but Team USA thumped them 10-2.
Team USA beat Slovakia and are now the winners of Group B.
Team USA are the Group B winners and will enter the elimination rounds feeling great about their chances to win the Gold Medal.
10 goals were scored for Team USA so lots of players contributed to the scoring. Nobody did better than Rutger McGroarty. The Winnipeg Jets first-round pick (14th overall) from 2022 had a hat trick.
Lane Hutson (Montreal Canadiens), Gavin Brindley (Columbus Blue Jackets), and Cutter Gauthier (Philadelphia Flyers) each had three points as well in the win. Lots of other players had two points or one point.
Trey Augustine (Detroit Red Wings) was in the net for Team USA. He made 38 saves on 40 shots against this very good Slovakia team.
It is rare for a goalie to make that many saves in a game that his team scores double-digit goals but he needed to be good as well. Without him, they might not have had the chance to score as much.
So now we wait to see all of the matchups in the elimination round that will begin on Tuesday. The Americans believe that they can beat anybody and they should. Dominating a team like Slovakia the way that they did shows just how talented they are.
Sweden and Canada might not be as easy to beat later on but they will be ready when those games come. This is going to be a very exciting finish.
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