The United States remained undefeated but needed a shootout to defeat the Czech Republic 4-3 in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships on Friday in Sweden.
Gabriel Perreault and Isaac Howard hit the mark in the closing stages of this duel. A total of seven shootout rounds were necessary to determine a winner. Goalkeeper Jacob Fowler was only thwarted by Jiri Kulich during the breakaway.
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The Montreal Canadiens junior made a total of 20 saves during regulation and overtime. He was beaten by shots from Jakub Stancl, Adam Bares and Sapousek.
Howard scored the first goal for the Americans in the first period. The winners then had to come back from behind twice thanks to the successes of Will Smith and Ryan Chesley. Defender Lane Hutson scored an assist on his goal. CH's second-round pick (62nd overall) in the 2022 draft maneuvered deep into the opponent's zone to win the puck back behind the Czech goal line. He then passed the valuable object to his teammate, who scored with a one-timer.
Hutson has two assists in three games so far. The talented full-back was also named his team's player of the match.
Due to this success, the representatives of Uncle Sam's Land are guaranteed a place among the top two teams in Group B.
The USA (2-1-0-0) returns to action on Sunday against Slovakia (3-0-0-0). On the same day, the Czech Republic (1-0-1-1) meets Switzerland (0-0-0-2). These will be the final games of the preliminary round of the tournament.