FRISCO, Texas – The matchup is set. After four preliminary round games and a re-seeding of both groups, the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team is set to take on Sweden tonight in the quarterfinals of the 2021 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship. Start time is set for 8:00 pm CT / 9:00 pm ET and will be broadcast live on NHL Network.
The U.S. comes into the knockout stage off of a thrilling 5-4 overtime come from behind victory against Finland Saturday evening. Down a goal late in the game, Team USA pulled its goaltender, which led to a Ty Gallagher (Clarkston, Mich.) game-tying goal with two seconds to play in regulation.
Sasha Pastujov (Bradenton, Fla.), the team’s leading scorer through four games, completed the comeback with a tally less than a minute into the overtime period to give the U.S. a 5-4 win.
“Each game we’re growing, and that was our goal coming into the tournament,” Pastujov said after the win. “If each game, we can play a little more the right way, a little more championship hockey, I think that will lead us towards the end and we’ll be successful.”
