U.S. Men’s National Team Tops Austria, 4-1

TAMPERE, Finland – Lane Hutson (Chicago, Ill.) and Nick Perbix (Elk River, Minn.) each put up a goal and an assist and Cal Petersen (Waterloo, Iowa) made 18 saves to help the U.S. Men’s National Team improve to 4-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) with a 4-1 win over Austria here today in its fourth preliminary round game of the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship.

"We started slow but got better as the game moved along," said David Quinn, head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team. "It's a difficult tournament. Every game is tough. We've had a great start but need to continue to get better to accomplish our ultimate goal of bringing home gold."

The first 20 minutes ended scoreless, with Petersen making several great stops in the U.S. net.

Drew O'Connor (Chatham, N.J.) nearly gave the U.S. the lead 4:30 into the second, going short side on the doorstep, but Austrian netminder Bernhard Starkbaum was equal to the task. Cutter Gauthier (Scottsdale, Ariz.) had a great chance moments later, but again Starkbaum made the save. The U.S. took the lead at 7:16 of the middle frame as Nick Bonino (Unionville, Conn.) wrapped around the back of the net and sent a pass across the crease where Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif.) put it home. Connor Mackey (Tower Lakes, Ill.) also tallied an assist on the play.

Austria tied things up with 2:37 remaining in the period with a goal from the top of the left circle, but Carter Mazur (Jackson, Mich.) answered less than a minute later from the slot. T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) and Hutson each picked up helpers.

Hutson made it 3-1 at the 3:24 mark of the third, starting the play in the U.S. zone and skating through four Austrian players before using a one-handed poke through the five-hole to score his first goal of the tournament. Perbix and Matt Coronato (Greenlawn, N.Y.) each picked up assists.

GAME PHOTOS

Austria’s Dominic Zwerger was awarded a penalty shot with 8:43 to play but denied by Petersen.

With 2:45 to play, Austria pulled Starkbaum for an extra attacker, but an empty netter from Perbix just 12 seconds later sealed the U.S. victory with Patrick Brown (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.) earning assists.

The U.S. is back in action Saturday (May 20) against Denmark in their fifth preliminary round game of the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship with puck drop set for 12:20 p.m. local time/5:20 a.m. ET and the game can be seen live on NHL Network.

NOTES: Lane Hutson was named U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. was 0-2 on the power play, while Austria was 1-1 … The U.S. outshot Austria by a 31-19 count ... The U.S. has opened a men’s world championship with four straight wins only five times, including this year.