EDMONTON, Alberta – Carter Mazur (Jackson, Mich.) scored twice and six U.S. players were credited with multi-point games en route to Team USA improving to 2-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) in 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship preliminary play here tonight at Rogers Place.
“I’m happy about the way we stuck with our game plan,” said Nate Leaman, head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. “We took our game to the next level in the second period and came out with a good win.”
The U.S. offensive push was first to attack just 14 seconds into the game, but the Swiss would take over the shot advantage for the majority of the opening period. Kaidan Mbereko (Aspen, Colo.) held steady in net, including killing off a Swiss man advantage with seven minutes remaining in the first. Red Savage (Scottsdale, Ariz.) injected energy into the U.S. attack as the Swiss powerplay expired, nearly putting the U.S. up, 1-0. Savage picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and split the Swiss defense, leaving himself with a clean breakaway, but Swiss netminder Kevin Pasche shut down the attempt.
Team USA continued to push and drew a penalty with 1:53 remaining in the opening frame. Logan Cooley (West Mifflin, Pa.) led the rush on a regroup, dropping the puck to Matt Knies (Phoenix, Ariz.) who fed a cross-ice pass to Matt Coronato (New York, N.Y.), but Pasche moved post-to-post, stopping the puck while falling toward the shot. The game remained at 0-0, with the U.S. taking the shot advantage 8-7.
