SAINT PAUL, Minnesota – Boston College forward James Hagens scored in a 1:03 span late in the second period and early in the third and the United States overcame a two-goal deficit to beat Slovakia 6-5 in the world junior hockey championship.
Hagens, drafted seventh overall by the Boston Bruins this summer, tied it at 4 with 45 seconds left in the second, then gave the Americans the lead 18 seconds into the third.
“It lets us learn about what type of team we have,” Hagens said according to AP. “We don´t quit. So to be able to see that out there, how we all battled back and responded, it was good.”
The United States matched Sweden at 3-0 in Group A play ahead of their New Year´s Eve showdown. In the early game, Sweden had four power-play goals in an 8-1 romp over Germany.
“We have to be careful with some things like taking too long shifts or getting stuck on the blue lines,” Swedish captain Jack Berglund said. “Stuff like that can punish us against the US If we have a bad change, bad turnover, they will come with speed. We need to be ready for that.”
Berglund, Anton Frondell and Viggo Bjorck each scored twice.
“We had, from the start, good energy,” Berglund said. “We came at them hard.”
In Group B at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Penn State star Gavin McKenna had a hat trick as Canada took the pool lead with a 9-1 victory over Denmark.
“It´s something you dream of as a kid,” Mckenna said. “Felt pretty good.”
Porter Marton had two goals and an assist, and Zayne Parekh, Michael Misa and Kashawn Aitcheson each had a goal and an assist. Parekh has played 11 games for the Calgary Flames this season.
In the early Group B game, Adam Jiricek scored at 3:39 of overtime to give Czechia a 2-1 victory over Finland. Emil Hemming tied it for Finland with 19.3 seconds left in regulation.
Caleb Heil backstopped the US in goal, making 26 saves. He’s from Victoria, Minnesota, and plays for Madison in the USHL. Fellow Minnesotans Brendan McMorrow and Will Zellers scored. McMorrow is from Lakeville and plays at Denver. Zellers, from Maple Grove, plays for North Dakota.
Lee Ryker of Michigan State and AJ Spellacy of Windsor of the OHL added goals. The US played without defenseman Cole Hutson. The Boston University star was injured when he was struck in the back of the head by a shot in a victory over Switzerland on Saturday.
“He´s like lightning in a bottle,” McMorrow said. “He can make something out of nothing, and in a game like that, too, we could have used him. But you know, we´re battling through it and hopefully we´ll get him back soon.”
