Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Gaudreau Leads U.S. Into Semis
BC star’s hat trick, Barber’s pair lead Team USA at World Junior Championship.
Boston College sophomore John Gaudreau scored three goals and the U.S. had five power-play goals as the U.S. National Junior Team defeated the Czech Republic, 7-0, Wednesday at Ufa Arena in a quarterfinal game of the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship. The win advances Team USA into the semifinal round, where it will face Canada tomorrow (Thursday, Jan. 3).
“Today we played outstanding from the goalie out to our defensemen and forwards,” said Phil Housley, head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. “I think we’re coming into our own as a team. It’s always good to get the first goal, and then in the second period our power play was clicking and we pulled away. We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s semifinal game against Canada.”
Miami freshman Riley Barber – one of two Miami players on the U.S. team – scored twice and Michigan freshman Jacob Trouba had four assists to further lead the U.S. offense.
Gaudreau notched Team USA’s first goal of the game on a five-on-three power play at 11:46 of the opening period. Seth Jones and Trouba played catch at the point before Trouba sent the puck on goal. The shot was deflected to the right of the net for Gaudreau to slam past Patrik Bartosak.
Just 28 seconds into the second stanza, Gaudreau scored a near duplicate of his first goal of the game. On the power play, a shot from Wisconsin’s Jake McCabe hit J.T. Miller and went directly to Gaudreau for the tap-in tally. Ryan Hartman put the U.S. up by three 40 seconds later, resulting in a goalie change for the Czech Republic.
Barber boosted the U.S. lead to 5-0 with goals at 8:44 and 12:13. First, Barber and Alex Galchenyuk played give-and-go along the right side with Barber scoring from the edge of the crease. Next, Barber scored on a breakaway that was started by Jones in the U.S. end.
With 13 seconds remaining in the second period, Gaudreau completed his hat trick, again on the power play, to give the U.S. a 6-0 lead. Miller and Jones assisted on the play.
Four minutes into the final stanza, the U.S. made it 7-0 on its fifth-power play goal of the game. Set up in front of the goalie, Miller leaped in the air to avoid a Trouba blast and deflected the puck past the goaltender.
Team USA will face Canada on Thursday (Jan. 3) at 3 p.m. (4 a.m. ET) in Ufa, Russia. NHL Network (DirectTV 215, Dish 403) will broadcast the game live, while NHL.com will provide a live stream.