Today marks the conclusion of the final day of the group stage at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The first match on the program today was between the USA and Slovakia.
The winner of the match would go on to win Group B.
It was expected to be a close game, which it was for almost two periods, but then the U.S. exploded for seven unanswered goals to win 10-2.
The Montreal Canadiens’ hopefuls Filip Mesar for Slovakia and Lane Hutson for the United States were obviously under scrutiny.
Mesar scored his first goal of the tournament to cut the deficit to one late in the second period.
It was a superb shot on the power play.
Filip Mesar with a PERFECT shot between the USA defender’s legs and to the back of the net to cut the lead to one.#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/6kR6yxd4SJ
– TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 31, 2023
This brings his tally to seven points (one goal and six assists) from four games in the tournament.
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As for Hutson, well, of the USA’s ten goals, he managed to get three assists.
The first was an assist on the third U.S. goal, an incredible solo play by Gavin Brindley.
Gavin Brindley takes a share of the tournament lead in goals with a shorthanded marker to make it 3-1 USA!#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/XMJrixRqFS
– TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 31, 2023
Hutson’s other two points came much later, on the USA’s last two goals, the ninth and tenth.
ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME. HELLO, CUTTER GAUTHIER. FIRST OF THE TOURNAMENT.#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/YafAqgeVHB
– Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) December 31, 2023
Frank Nazar with the nifty setup to Isaac Howard for the 10-2 goal for Team USA
Nazar’s 2nd assist of the game and his 8th of the tournament #Blackhawks #WJC #HOTR pic.twitter.com/2xEhs71vaO
– Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) December 31, 2023
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Three secondary passes for Hutson in the USA’s thaw against Slovakia.
Hutson also stood out physically, yes, yes.
He knocked down a troublesome opponent in front of Trey Augustine’s net.
#habs Lane Hutson wins a wrestling match, who had that on their New Years Eve bingo cards? #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/GzsSV80APH
– Patrik Bexell (@Zeb_Habs) December 31, 2023
And finally, as everyone knows, Hutson is capable of the best and the worst, as evidenced by this turnaround at Filip Mesar’s expense.
Habs on Habs violence https://t.co/OvnxPLodgv
– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) December 31, 2023
Hutson also looked bad on this sequence.
Kmec WALKS Lane Hutson, but can’t finish the highlight-reel play.#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/M7LPreTBaO
– TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 31, 2023
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All in all, Hutson didn’t have an impressive game, but he made a discreet contribution to his team’s success.
He has three assists in four games at the tournament so far.
Getting back to the Slovakian side, it really seemed that their number one goalkeeper, Adam Gajan, wasn’t in uniform.
We wanted to rest him, but let’s just say it would have been a tighter game if he’d been in front of the net.
The Slovaks are sorely missing Gajan in goal today. Goaltending has been the prime difference in this contest. Augustine has been terrific; Urban was far from it.
– Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) December 31, 2023
In short, this match really shows that you can never predict how a game will turn out.
Slovakia had beaten the Czech Republic 6-2, while the USA had barely beaten the Czechs in a shootout.
We were therefore expecting a close match between Slovakia and the USA, but this was not the case.
As for Canada, they’ll be in action later today at 1:30 p.m. against Germany.
In a gust
– When a coach has an altercation with one of his players on the bench.
Regina Pats great. Amazing how he dodged an elbow from an upset Jurco https://t.co/gLS5BiRckC
– Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 31, 2023
– Bad news for the Wild: Filip Gustavsson injured.
Wild’s Kaprizov, Gustavsson injured, Fleury plays his 999th career game: Key takeaways vs. Jets
From@JoeSmithNHL https://t.co/EpDqnozBdV
– Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 31, 2023
– Indeed.
2023 will mark a turning point for women’s hockey, with the creation of the NWHL https://t.co/G9ixTR5RMy
– La Presse Sports (@LaPresse_Sports) December 31, 2023
– To be continued.
After considering retirement, Nadal dreams of extending his career beyond 2024 https://t.co/Vln1DKv1Q5
– La Presse Sports (@LaPresse_Sports) December 31, 2023
Filip Mesar with a PERFECT shot between the USA defender’s legs and to the back of the net to cut the lead to one.#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/6kR6yxd4SJ
– TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 31, 2023