Team USA produced a commited performance in World Juniors bronze medal game to win its first ever accolade on home soil. A brace from Chris Kreider together with goals from Drew Shore and Nick Bjugstad were enough to outpower the Swedish team, which dominated for large periods of the game, but was stopped on numerous occasions by goalkeeper Jack Campbell.
In a battle of two disappointed semifinalists, Swedish coach Roger Rönnberg a bit surprisingly chose to start with Fredrik Petterson-Wentzel in the net. Petterson-Wentzel was called to action on many occasions in the first period, denying goal scoring opportunities of Palmieri, Etem and Faulk. "We saw energy in this goalkeeper in the build up to the game and felt he is ready for the challenge," said coach Rönnberg. "He gave us a good chance to win."
The game lacked tempo and atmosphere and fans were longing for the opening goal. It came at 31:55 when Oscar Lindberg finally broke the deadlock with a rebound from close range. However, Team USA equalized shortly after, when Chris Kreider found some space in the slot and fired a pass from the back boards straight between keeper´s pads.
USA´s comeback was completed early in the 3rd period after Drew Shore´s deflected shot flew straight under the crossbar. Deflected shots and good work in front of the net paid dividends for USA. At 51:40, Nick Bjugstad changed the direction of another blue line shot to beat Petterson-Wentzel and give his team a two goal lead.
With five minutes to go, Jesper Fasth was able to score a close range rebound to make it 2-3 from the Swedish point of view, but a quick breakaway at 58:07 was put in by Chris Kreider from Palmieri´s pass and there was no way USA was going to throw away that lead.
"Can you see the medal? Can you see it? I can and I like it," joked Team USA forward Chris Brown. Coach Keith Allain was a bit more philosophical. "This is the first time USA won back to back medals at this tournament and the first time we won a medal at home soil. It shows the strenght of the USA Hockey youth program," said Allain.
On the other hand, Swedish players were understandably disappointed. "It is so disappointing. It was a last game in this category for most of the guys," explained Team Sweden defender Fredrik Styrman. "I felt a huge desire in the dressing room. We badly wanted this medal."
Daniel Filimonov
(G)
EHC Lausitzer Füchse
EV Lindau
Tobias Fischer
(D)
Füchse Duisburgunknown
Daniel Jun
(C)
ESV Kaufbeuren JokerEV Füssen
Brett Jaeger
(G)
Hannover IndiansHammer Eisbären
Brady Ferguson
(F)
Rögle BKEHC Red Bull München
Michael Joyaux
(D)
IK OskarshamnLöwen Frankfurt
Stefan Nyman
(C)
Örebro HKIserlohn Roosters
Czech Rep.:
Tipsport extraliga |
1.liga |
2.liga
Slovakia:
Tipsport Extraliga |
1.liga
Sweden:
SHL |
HockeyAllsvenskan
Other: EBEL | Belarus | Croatia | Denmark | Estonia | France | Great Britain | Iceland | Italy | Latvia | Lithuania | MOL-liga | Norway | Poland | Romania | Serbia | Slovenia | Spain | NHL | AHL |
In the inaugural season of the Chinese Men’s Ice Hockey Professional League the Beijing Lions emerged victorious, securing the championship with a commanding 6-1 victory over Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star in the final. ... Read more»
DEL, Swiss National League, KHL and SHL all set new attendance records in 24-25 season. Kölner Haie and SKA St. Petersburg are the clubs with the most spectators Read more»
Finland:
Russia:
Switzerland: