CHELYABINSK, Russia - The U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team defeated France 15-0 in an pre-tournament exhibition match on Sunday evening at Traktor Ice Arena.
Seventeen different skaters recorded at least one point in the first matchup between the two countries at the Under-18 level.
“In the second and third period I thought we played honest hard hockey and we did the things we needed to do to match up with the elite teams in this tournament,” said U.S. head coach Seth Appert (Cottage Grove, Minn.).
Jonathan Gruden (Rochester, Mich.) (3-2-5) and Gavin Hain (Grand Rapids, Minn.) (3-0-0) each recorded hat-tricks while Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla) (1-3-4) and Joel Farabee (Cicero, N.Y.) (2-2-4) recorded four points nights.
Team USA goaltenders Drew DeRidder (Fenton, Mich.), Spencer Knight (Darien, Conn.) and Jonathan Mor (Highland Park, Ill.) split time in net for the combined shutout.
At the conclusion of regulation, the two teams played a simulated overtime period and shootout. Neither team recorded a goal in overtime but Hughes, Farabee, Wahlstrom scored in the shootout while Mor stopped all five shots he faced.
Team USA opens preliminary round play on Thursday in a 7:30 p.m. local (10:30 a..m. ET) matchup with Canada.
Date | Opponent | Round | Time (Local/ET)/Results | Location | Television |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sun., April 15 | France | Exhibition | W, 15-0 | Traktor Ice Rink Chelyabinsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
Thurs., April 19 | Canada | Preliminary | L, 4-6 | Metallurg Ice Rink Magnitogorsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
Fri., April 20 | Switzerland | Preliminary | W, 8-5 | Metallurg Ice Rink Magnitogorsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
Sun., April 22 | Sweden | Preliminary | L, 1-3 | Metallurg Ice Rink Magnitogorsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
Tues., April 24 | Belarus | Preliminary | W, 8-0 | Metallurg Ice Rink Magnitogorsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
Thurs., April 26 | Russia | Quarterfinals | W, 5-1 | Traktor Ice Rink Chelyabinsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
Sat., April 28 | Czech Republic | Semifinals | W, 4-1 | Traktor Ice Rink Chelyabinsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
Sun., April 29 | Finland | Gold Medal Game | L, 2-3 | Traktor Ice Rink Chelyabinsk, Russia |
NHL Network |