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Team USA Defeats Belarus, 7-0, in U18s Opener

By USA Hockey, 04/13/17, 9:45AM EDT

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Wahlstrom scores twice and St. Cyr registers shutout in victory

Spisska Nova Ves, Slovakia – Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass) scored twice and Dylan St. Cyr (Northville, Mich.) stopped all 17 shots he faced as the U.S. National Under-18 Team earned a 7-0 victory over Belarus here today in its opening preliminary round game of the 2017 IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship.

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Team USA killed all three Belarus power plays in the first period, while registering two shorthanded scoring chances in a scoreless first period.

Michael Pastujov (Bradenton, Fla.) opened the scoring for Team USA early in the second period when he pounced on a rebound off an Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) wrist shot. Max Gildon (Plano, Texas) also picked up an assist after circling the net and firing a cross-crease pass to Barratt.

Scott Reedy (Prior Lake, Minn.) widened the U.S. lead to two just :42 later when he drifted into the low slot and one-timed a backhand pass from Joel Farabee (Cicero, N.Y.) short-side past Belarus goaltender Andrei Grishenko. Nate Knoepke (Farmington, Minn.) also earned an assist on the play.

Wahlstrom notched his first goal of the afternoon at the 7:50 mark of the second period after firing a one-timer off a cross-crease feed from Brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.). Tyler Inamoto (Barrington, Ill.) also picked up an assist after threading a pass to Tkachuk as he crossed the blue line.

Sean Dhooghe (Aurora, Ill.) added a shorthanded tally at the 13:00 mark when he buried a loose puck in front following a rush play by Farabee. Knoepke earned his second assist of the game on the play.

Wahlstrom ended Team USA’s scoring in the second period after knocking the puck out of the air and past Grishenko. Josh Norris (Oxford, Mich.) picked up an assist after firing the puck high and wide to cause the carom to Wahlstrom. Grant Mismash (Edina, Minn.) picked up the secondary assist after digging the puck out of a scrum and sending a pass to Norris.

Mismash earned his second point of the night when he opened the third period scoring at the 2:34 mark. Barratt and Inamoto earned their second assists of the night on the goal. David Farrance (Victor, N.Y.) capped the scoring for Team USA at 4:55 when he drifted to the slot and wristed a shot past Grishenko. Ryan Poehling (Lakeville, Minn.) and Reedy picked up assists on the goal.

Team USA plays its next preliminary round game against Russia on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. local (9:30 a.m. ET). The game can be seen live on NHL Network.

Notes

The U.S. outshot Belarus 51-17 … Team USA did not have a power play opportunity in the contest and killed off all four Belarus power plays … Nate Knoepke earned a +5 rating in the game … Thirteen different players recorded a point while seven players recorded a multi-point game … The game marks the first IIHF U18 Men’s World’s victory for head coach John Wroblewski … Team USA now holds an all-time record of 7-0-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) against Belarus … The U.S. is 57-0-1-15-1 in preliminary games ... For complete tournament information, visit the IIHF website. Team USA News, interviews, highlights and more can be found on the Team USA website ... Follow @USAHockey on Twitter for live scoring updates during the tournament. Scores will be designated with the #U18Worlds tag ... For additional coverage, visit the USA Hockey Facebook page and Instagram account.

USA Schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIME (Local/ET)/RESULT LOCATION TV
April 7 Exhibition vs. Belarus W, 5-2 Hodonin, Czech Republic
April 10 Exhibition vs. Finland W, 5-2 ZS Spisska Nova Ves
April 13 Belarus W, 7-0 ZS Spisska Nova Ves NHL Network
April 15 Russia W, 5-4 ZS Spisska Nova Ves NHL Network
April 17 Czech Republic W, 5-2 ZS Spisska Nova Ves NHL Network
April 18 Sweden W, 5-1 ZS Spisska Nova Ves NHL Network
April 20 Switzerland
Quarterfinals
W, 4-2 ZS Spisska Nova Ves NHL Network
April 22 Sweden
Semifinals
W, 4-3 OT ZS Poprad NHL Network
April 23 Finland • Gold Medal Game W, 4-2 ZS Poprad NHL Network

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