Even though their country torpedoed Switzerland 11-3 in a preliminary round game of the World Junior Hockey Championship on Thursday in Gothenburg, Americans Lane Hutson and Jacob Fowler have some adjustments to make.
During a one-sided clash whose outcome left no doubt, the two hopes of the Montreal Canadiens experienced some problems while the United States signed a second victory in as many outings at this competition.
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“I liked our departure. We pushed them around quickly and that was important. It was a great victory and we now turn our attention to an excellent Czech team,” said head coach David Carle in a press release.
Hutson was unable to score a single point and looked rather bad on the opponent’s last goal, when he missed his coverage in front of the net; Thierry Schild outpaced him by grabbing a loose puck to beat Fowler. For his part, he gave up three times in 24 throws, after Trey Augustine defeated Norway.
Jimmy Snuggerud had a blast with a hat trick for the representatives of Uncle Sam’s country who have a meeting with the Czechs on Friday. Gavin Bradley added two goals and an assist, while Gabriel Perreault collected two points. Chicago Blackhawks prospect Frank Nazar had four assists.
“I’m going to give credit to my linemates, who fed me well and screened my shots,” mentioned Snuggerud after the first period where he scored all his goals.
In the Swiss team’s camp, the son of former goalkeeper Cristobal Huet replaced Lorin Gruter with less than eight minutes remaining in the first period. Ewan Huet made 23 saves on 30 shots.
Another hat-trick
Later in the day, the Swedes took advantage of the partisan crowd to defeat Germany 5-0, thanks to a hat trick from Otto Stenberg.
Even though they surprised the Finns with a 4-3 victory in overtime the day before, the Germans were no match for this duel. Goalkeeper Matthias Bittner’s goal was targeted 41 times. The team’s other goalkeeper, Philipp Dietl, had a day off after his good performance on Wednesday.
Bittner was more shaky than his counterpart, as when he found himself out of position on Stenberg’s third goal, midway through the third period. His attack didn’t provide him with any ammunition, with Melker Thelin only having 15 saves to make for the shutout.
Mattias Havelid and Noah Ostlund were the other scorers for Sweden, which will face Canada on Friday.