Team USA kicked off the 2024 World Junior Championships with a contest against Norway, whose goal is to simply stay in the top division, let alone compete against top teams. With that, a slow start for the Americans wasn’t nearly enough to stop them from eventually piling on goals, defeating the Norwegians by a score of 4-1.
Staying Focused
The first period was a bit scary for Team USA, as Norway came out flying. It’s safe to say that the Americans were caught a little by surprise given that they were expected to dominate. Overall shots for the period were almost even, 14-10 US.
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Norwegian netminder Markus Stensrud stopped all 14 in that frame, including many high-danger opportunities. Correspondingly, the Americans started to attempt to pick their spots and play perfect hockey, which resulted in them missing the net on 10-shot attempts.
Typically in past World Juniors tournaments, teams that are heavy favorites tend to play on their heels and get scared when underdogs (like Norway) are playing above expectations. But after the first period, the Americans started to up the pace and stick to their game, and the results followed.
Jimmy Snuggerud (STL) kicked off the scoring halfway through the second with a turnaround shot off a feed from Seamus Casey (NJD). Following that, Gavin Brindley (CBJ) scored two goals in less than seven minutes to give the US a very comfortable 3-0 lead.
In the third, they continued to up the pace, adding a power-play goal from Isaac Howard (TBL) and outshooting Norway 18-2 in the frame.
The mindset of continuing to stick to their game even if things aren’t working at first will pay dividends for Team USA throughout this tournament. They trusted their talent, and got the correct result in the end.
Great Goaltending
At most tournaments, goaltending is a make-or-break factor when it comes to competing for a gold medal. Given that, the US has to be pleased with Trey Augustine’s impressive one-goal, 22-save performance (.957 save percentage – SV%).
Augustine, who should remain the number one option for the US, has an 11-3-2 record and .916 SV% for Michigan State University this season.
Not only did he post impressive results against Norway, but a multitude of his stops were of the grade-A variety.
If he didn’t get one or two key stops in the first period, the momentum of the game could have swayed in an entirely different way.
Related: 2024 Guide to the World Junior Championship
Augustine has been an elite netminder at each level he’s been through in the past few years. With an exception of a sloppy game versus Team Canada in last year’s tournament, he won his other four games and was dominant.
If he continues to play the way he did in this contest, the Americans will be just fine.
Special Teams Thrive
Similar to goaltending, special teams are such a crucial part of succeeding at the World Juniors.
The US was phenomenal on both the man advantage and the penalty kill.
They were too undisciplined, taking five penalties, which is something they will have to work on. But they killed off all five and didn’t let Norway sustain much pressure at all. In a few instances, they even generated some prime scoring chances on the kill.
Additionally, they scored two goals on the power play, from Brindley and Howard. Their puck movement was great, which is to be expected when they have so much talent on their units.
Casey and Lane Hutson (MTL) each quarterback a power-play unit. Both are dynamic in their skating and can easily manipulate defenders into biting on their fakes and opening up lanes.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the US continue to fill the back of the net while on the man advantage. And some players will soon be due for a goal; guys like Will Smith (SJS), Cutter Gauthier (PHI), and Rutger McGroarty (WPG).
Keep it Going
The US will be back at it on Thursday (Dec. 28) against a Switzerland team that is considered fairly weak. As they did in this game, they will need to continue to stick to their system and let the talent do the talking.
21 of the 23 players on Team USA are already drafted by an NHL team, and one of the two who isn’t (Zeev Buium) will likely be a first-round pick in the next draft.
There’s no need to overcomplicate anything; play as a team and the results will follow. This was a great start for the Americans.