Americans Dominate Denmark in 9-0 WJC Blowout

The United States of America weren't really tested in the first game of the 2018 World Juniors in Buffalo, beating Denmark by a score of 9-0 at the KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

The Americans needed just 2:27 to pot the game’s first marker. Despite facing what seemed like every member of Denmark in a defensive manner, Max Jones got the Americans up 1-0 after crossing through the middle of the slot before firing the disk over Kasper Krog for the 1-0 goal.

On their second shot, USA found themselves up 2-0. With the Americans dominating the puck since it dropped for the first time, Kieffer Bellows doubled his team’s lead when he took the pass at the faceoff circle to the left of Krog, sniping a quick wrister overtop the Danish netminder to make it 2-0.

The Americans were simply dominant from the start, scoring four goals on eight shots. At 8:26, Buffalo Sabres prospect Casey Mittelstadt made it 3-0 after picking up his own rebound, just beating Patrick Harper to the punch as he knocked it in to the left of Krog.

Then, at 11:35, Kailer Yamamoto made it 4-0 after Brady Tkachuk made quick work behind the net, sending the puck uncontested to Yamamoto to the left of the net before the Edmonton Oilers prospect put his team up by another goal.

Denmark had just four shots in the opening period, but they left the opening frame down by five. At 18:48, Harper set up Mittelstadt on the doorstep, with Mittelstadt making a quick move to snap the puck top corner to end the period with USA taking the 5-0 lead.

With goal differential playing a part in the tournament, like all World Juniors, USA continued to pour on the pressure. At 4:08 in the second, Bellows got his second of the night after potting one five-hole past Krog, giving the Americans their sixth goal of the tournament.

Denmark did their best to prevent the Americans from completing dominating the action, preventing USA from scoring until the final minute of the second. There, Harper finally got one of his own after sending a blister of a wrister from the high slot, putting USA up by seven heading into the second break of the game. Andrew Peeke and Dylan Samberg would score goals each late in the game, while Joseph Woll stopped all 15 shots the Danes sent his way in a one-sided 9-0 victory for USA.

USA will sit out Wednesday before welcoming Slovakia on December 28th, an 8:00 PM ET start at the KeyBank Center. The Danes will hope history will repeat itself earlier on Thursday when they hope to beat Finland for the second straight year when the two teams tangle at 12:00 PM, also at KeyBank.

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