FRISCO, Texas - Team USA kicks off the official start of the 2021 Under-18 Men's World Championship with a preliminary-round matchup against Russia. Puck drop is slated for 8pm CT / 9pm ET from Comerica Center in Frisco. Tonight's game, as well as every game throughout the tournament, can be streamed live on HockeyTV.com.
The U.S. enters the tournament on a three-game preliminary round win streak against Russia, including a 6-3 win in the 2019 tournament that saw Alex Turcotte (Island Lake, Ill.) be named U.S. the player of the game. Team USA and the Russians met again in the tournament semifinals when Russia got the edge with a 3-2 shootout victory before the U.S. went on to win the bronze-medal game over Canada.
In 20 all-time meetings between the two teams at the U18 Worlds, Team USA has outscored Russia by a 71-65 margin.
Today’s Opponent: Russia
The U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team has an 8-1-1-10-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) series record against Russia in the IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship. In preliminary round play only, the U.S. is 5-0-0-6-0, but has won the last three matchups dating back to 2016.