PLYMOUTH, Mich. – Day two of games from the 2024 World Junior Summer Showcase took place here today at USA Hockey Arena with USA Blue besting Finland, 5-3, and USA White topping Sweden, 2-1.

The event serves as an evaluation for athletes seeking to make their respective national teams for the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, set for Dec. 26, 2024, through Jan. 5, 2025, in Ottawa, Ontario.

Below are brief recaps from the two games.

HIGHLIGHTS

USA Blue, led by two goals from Brodie Ziemer (Hutchinson, Minn.), gained a 5-3 win over Finland in the first game of the day.

Ziemer scored the opening goal of the contest at 9:05, capitalizing on a scramble in front of the Finnish net and sneaking the puck past goaltender Veeti Louhivaara.

Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) doubled the U.S. lead with a power-play tally with 4:43 left in the first period, re-directing an initial shot by Gabe Perreault (Hinsdale, Ill.). Zeev Buium (San Diego, Calif.) collected an assist as well.

Just over a minute later, Ziemer made it 3-0 after he collected a perfectly placed pass off the stick of AJ Spellacy (Westlake, Ohio) and tipped the puck home. Brandon Svoboda (Level Green, Pa.) also earned an assist on the goal.

James Hagens (Hauppauge, N.Y.) added a fourth for USA Blue on the power play just 25 seconds into the second, collecting his own rebound and ripping it home from the slot.

Sebastian Soini got the Finns on the board at 4:56 as his shot from the point through traffic found the back of the net. Joe Willis (Elmhurst, Ill.) finished a two-on-one break with Lukas Fischer (Brighton, Mich.) for USA Blue’s fifth goal with Svoboda picking up his second assist in the game.

Jesse Nurmi was credited with Finland’s second goal near the halfway mark of the contest to cut the U.S. lead to 5-2, and 4:48 into the third, a Topias Hynninen goal off a give-and-go play with Nurmi put the visitors within striking distance. Finland had a five-minute power play and lengthy 5-on-3 advantage later in the period, but the USA Blue penalty killers stood tall.

Hampton Slukynsky (Warroad, Minn.) started in net for Team USA and stopped five of the six shots he faced in the first 28:01 of action, while Sam Hillebrandt (Riverview, Fla.) finished the game and made 13 saves on 15 shots.

GAME PHOTOS

USA White scored twice in the first 2:43 of the contest in a 2-1 win over Sweden in the second game of the day.

Just eight seconds into the game, Quentin Musty (Hamburg, N.Y.) wristed the puck into the back of the net from the right circle after Beckett Hendrickson (Minnetonka, Minn.) poked the puck free along the boards and chipped it to Musty.

Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, Mass.) made it 2-0 just 2:35 later, tipping home a shot from the center point off the stick of Aram Minnetian (Woodcliff Lake, N.J.). Colin Ralph (Maple Grove, Minn.) earned an assist on the play as well.

Victor Eklund scored Sweden's lone goal of the game 1:06 into the second period, but the U.S. held strong, including killing off Sweden power play chances in the third, to pick up the victory.

Carsen Musser (Sherburn, Minn.) played the opening 30:00 and had four saves on five shots, while Nick Kempf (Chicago, Ill.) played the rest of the way and stopped all 11 shots he faced.

GAME PHOTOS