US Tops Swiss, 3-2, in World Juniors Quarterfinals – USA Hockey

THE SERIES VS. SWITZERLAND

The United States and Switzerland are meeting for the 23rd time in IIHF World Junior Championship play and first time in the quarterfinal round. All-time, the U.S. is 20-0-0-0-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) against Switzerland. The two teams, which faced off in a pre-tournament game on Dec. 21,  met last year in the preliminary round where Team USA topped the Swiss by a 10-1 count.

PRE-TOURNAMENT MEETING: USA 4, SUI 3

In Team USA’s first pre-tournament game at the Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa, Ontario, the U.S. edged Switzerland, 4-3. Jack Roslovic (Columbus, Ohio/Manitoba Moose) and Erik Foley (Mansfield, Mass./Providence College) each tallied two points, seven other players collected a point, and Tyler Parsons (Chesterfield, Mich./London Knights) made 21 saves in his first international appearance. Team USA was 1-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill while outshooting Switzerland, 32-24.

TEAM USA IN QUARTERFINAL PLAY

In 15 quarterfinal appearances, the U.S. holds an 8-7 record. In last year’s quarterfinal, Team USA blanked the Czech Republic, 7-0, behind a hat trick from Auston Matthews and a 28-save performance from Alex Nedeljkovic. The playoff format was adopted for the IIHF World Junior Championship beginning in 1996. The U.S. has qualified for the playoffs 19 out of 21 years, including 17 of the last 18 tournaments. From 1977-95, teams played each other once in a round-robin format and medals were awarded based on final standings.

SCORING BY COMMITTEE

All 20 skaters for Team USA have registered at least one point so far in this year’s tournament, marking the fourth time in U.S. history that a U.S. National Junior Team has accomplished this feat. Two of the three previous teams went on to claim medals, as the 2013 team won the gold medal while the 1986 team earned the first-ever World Junior Championship medal (bronze) in U.S. history. The other team to accomplish the feat, the 1987 squad, finished in fourth place.

    In this year’s squad, 12 players have collected more than one point. Clayton Keller (3-4) paces all skaters with seven points; Colin White (4-1) is second with five points and Jordan Greenway (2-2) and Troy Terry (2-2) are tied for third with four points apiece. Each U.S. game has seen at least six players tally a point.

    “We said it from day one in Buffalo that we felt we had four lines that could score,” said head coach Bob Motzko. “We believe in the guys in this room and know they’re all capable of scoring. The players know that, too, which I think keeps someone from squeezing their stick thinking they need to be ‘the guy’. Anybody in there can be ‘the guy’ and that’s what we feel makes us a difficult team to face throughout this tournament.”