Americans stop Czech comeback for first win

The United States of America have taken their first victory of the 2018 World Junior A Challenge, stopping a late comeback attempt by the Czech Republic to win 4-2 on Tuesday night in Bonnyville, Alberta.

The Americans have been the most successful team at the World Junior A Challenge since the tournament began, but the Czechs have seemed to elude them in the past. In fact, the Czechs, who have just one medal ever at the tournament, came into the game with two straight victories against the Americans at the annual December tournament.

The first period saw a very even start between the two teams, with each squad taking five shots in the first 10 minutes. But from there, the Americans looked like the much better team on the puck, scoring early in the second to open up the scoring. First, however, they had a goal waved off before the second frame was even a minute old, with Robert Mastrosimone appearing to have beat Daniel Dvorak with a wrist shot. The puck never actually crossed the line, however, hitting off the inside of a post, landing underneath his pad.

But at 1:27 on the power play, they actually did score for real. Parker Ford would get the goal after some tremendous tic-tac-toe passes from Matt Brown and Bobby Brink, with Ford finishing off the play to put the Americans up by a goal early in the second frame.

An explosive shift by Ronnie Attard would help the Americans take a 2-0 lead. Attard would make it back in time after getting beat on a play originally in his own zone, throwing a hard hit on a Czech forward. Attard would then retrieve the puck and take it down the ice, passing the puck to Trevor Janicke in the slot to make it 2-0 at 16:09 in the period.

With 1:12 left in the frame, the Americans would make it 3-0. Janicke would get his second of the period after wrapping around the net, moving just out of reach for anyone to stop him and blasting the puck over Dvorak's right arm, giving the Americans a nice lead heading into the second break.

When all hope looked lost, a pair of power-play goals from Jan Kern gave the Czechs some life. At 11:41, Kern stood in front of the net and knocked in a bouncing puck after a point shot from Matej Blumel hit a few people in front. Then, two minutes later on the power play again, Kern would again score from in close after knocking in another Blumel rebound, bringing the Czechs within a goal. The Americans would get an empty-netter to end any chance of a Czech rebound, instead stealing the victory by a score of 4-2.

While the Czechs won't have to worry about hitting the ice until Thursday, the Americans will play Canada East at 2:00 PM MT on Wednesday as they look to grab their second win of the tournament.

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