A brace from striker Gavin Brindley was enough for the United States to secure a 4-1 victory over the very stubborn Norwegians in a preliminary round game at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Gothenburg on Tuesday.
Although the winners were widely favored, they had to wait before losing to their rivals. A three-goal effort in the middle period, including two goals in a row from the Columbus Blue Jackets' young player, gave head coach David Carle's team a sigh of relief. Brindley fired the needle on the power play with a shot into the top of the net, only to appear in the slot less than three minutes later and beat goalie Markus Stensrud.
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson received an assist on his team's final goal, Isaac Howard's. Midway through the game, Jimmy Snuggerud scored the first goal. Cutter Gauthier, Gabriel Perreault and Ryan Leonard all recorded an assist. Trey Augustine defended the American cage.
• Also read: World Junior Hockey: first successful test for Canada
• Also read: World Juniors: Eight players to keep an eye on during the tournament
The USA will cross swords with Switzerland on Thursday. The next day Norway meets Slovakia.
AFP
Sweden is starting the tournament strongly
Later in the day, Sweden won its first game by defeating Latvia 6-0.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Filip Bystedt each scored two goals. Other goalscorers for the host country were Anton Wahlberg and Felix Unger Sorum. Defender Theo Lindstein stood out with two assists.
In front of the victorious cage, goalkeeper Hugo Havelid blocked 20 shots from Latvian players.
Additionally, Swedish defender Elias Salomonsson was taken out of the game after just 25 seconds of play. The Winnipeg Jets prospect received a match penalty for attacking a rival in the background.
Sweden meets Germany on Thursday. Latvia has a meeting with Finland on Friday.