Saturday is day five of the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Matches of day 5
United States 7, Austria 0 — Wyatt Kaiser and Carter Mazur each scored twice for the U.S., which remained undefeated in Group B.
Andrew Oke made 11 saves in two periods, and Remington Keopple made four saves in the third period for the United States (3-0-0-0).
Leon Sommer made 49 saves for Austria (0-0-0-3).
“I liked our start, we knew we had to start well,” USA coach Nate Leaman said. “I threw three lines to start the game to get on the scoreboard, hopefully early, and Logan Cooley’s line did it for us.”
Kaiser, a defenseman for the Chicago Blackhawks, scored on the game’s first shot 54 seconds into the first period to give the United States a 1-0 lead. His wrist shot by traffic passed Sommer.
Matt Coronato (Calgary Flames) made it 2-0 at 2:32. He took a pass from Cooley (Arizona Coyotes) in front, cut into the crease and waited for Sommer before lifting the puck into the net.
“I liked how we got to the net, we were attacking the net and the first five minutes were pretty quick,” Kaiser said. “We were putting pucks in the net and keeping it simple.”
Kaiser’s second goal gave the U.S. a 3-0 lead at 11:40 when he fired a shot into the top corner.
Redmond Savage (Detroit Red Wings) made it 4-0 at 18:26. He received a long pass from defenseman Ian Moore (Anaheim Ducks) and scored on Sommer. Play continued when the officials ruled the puck hit the crossbar, but a later review determined it had crossed the goal line.
“I heard it and it didn’t sound like the crossbar, and sometimes you can tell the difference between the crossbar and the back bar,” Savage said. “But I didn’t see it go in, so I put my head down and kept playing.”
Mazur (Red Wings) made it 5-0 at 7:01 of the second period with a shot from the slot. He scored again 57 seconds later on the power play for a 6-0 lead at the 7:58 mark.
“Starting the game it was pretty tough to give up those two quick goals,” Sommer said. “I actually like those kinds of games where you’re getting hit a lot. Mentally I felt good so I was able to keep going and I thought we played well after that.”
Dominic James (Blackhawks) had a goal disallowed for the United States at 18:40 of the second period after Austria was called for offside.
Sasha Pastujov (Ducks) scored with 40 seconds left in the third period for a 7-0 final.
“When you play a top team like this after a back-to-back, it’s always quite difficult,” said Austria captain Leon Wallner. “We didn’t get off to a good start, but I thought we came back and improved our game and I thought we battled pretty well against them.”
The United States will play Sweden on Sunday. Austria will play Switzerland on Monday.
On tap for day 5
All NHL Network games in the US; TSN and RDS in Canada
Canada vs. Czech Republic (6 p.m. ET) — Forward Mason McTavish (Anaheim Ducks) leads the tournament with eight points (four goals, four assists) through two games, including a Canadian record-tying four goals against Slovakia on Thursday. Coach Dave Cameron said what has impressed him most about McTavish, Canada’s captain, is his attitude. “He’s an NHL player,” Cameron said. “He had every reason in the world not to get to this just because of the timing of it, and he’s fully committed to it.” Canada (2-0-0-0) should also have forward Ridley Greig (Ottawa Senators) in the lineup after he sat out the third period against Slovakia as a precaution, according to Cameron. The Czech Republic (1-0-1-0) could need another big game from forward Jan Mysak (Montreal Canadiens), who has four points (three goals, one assist) in two games.
Germany vs. Switzerland (10 p.m. ET) — Germany (1-0-0-1) will be looking for their second straight win after a 4-2 win against Austria on Wednesday. Forwards Alexander Blank (2023 Draft eligible), who had a natural hat trick in the second period against Austria, and forward Joshua Samanski have been Germany’s best players. Switzerland (0-0-0-2) will look to bounce back from a 7-1 loss to the United States on Thursday. He hopes he can play more like he did on Wednesday, when he scored twice in the third period to scare Sweden into a 3-2 loss.
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