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U.S. Falls to Canada, 6-5, in World Jr Summer Showcase Finale

By USAHockey.com, 08/04/18, 5:15PM EDT

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U.S. closes Showcase play with 5-2 overall record

Jay O’Brien (Hingham, Mass.) scored twice and three other U.S. players scored but the U.S. fell to Canada, 6-5, in its final game of the 2018 World Junior Summer Showcase.

With the loss, the U.S. closes Showcase play with an overall record of 4-1-0-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L). The 2018 World Junior Summer Showcase featured teams from the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden. The event served as an audition for players seeking to make their federation team that will compete at the 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2018 – Jan. 5, 2019, in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C. For the full U.S. tournament schedule, click here.

Joel Farabee (Cicero, N.Y.) opened the scoring 3:58 into the game to give the U.S. an early 1-0 advantage. The play started when Brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.) and Farabee entered the zone in a two-on-one man advantage situation that saw Tkachuk dish the puck across the slot for Farabee to one-time it under the glove of Canadian goaltender Matthew Welsh.

Canada evened the game 3:51 later when Ty Dellandrea tapped in a loose puck in the crease after U.S. netminder Keith Petruzzelli (Wilbraham, Mass.) made an initial diving save off a shot from Jaret Anderson-Dolan. Just 51 seconds after Dellandrea’s goal, Nick Suzuki fired a shot over the shoulder of a screened Petruzzelli to give Canada a 2-1 lead.

In search of a tying goal, the U.S. was able to generate a pair of scoring chances, including a breakaway attempt from Jack Drury (Winnetka, Ill.), but entered the first intermission with a 2-1 deficit.

The second period saw goals from Michael Rasmussen, MacKenzie Entwistle and Jack Studnicka push Canada’s lead to 5-1 early into the frame. 

At the 10:45 mark, O’Brien connected off a pass from Sasha Chmelevski (Northville, Mich.) to make it 5-2. Then, with 3:51 to play in the stanza, Noah Cates (Stillwater, Minn.) brought the U.S. back within two after lifting a rebound off a shot by Quinn Hughes (Orlando, Fla.) over the pad of Canadian goaltender Matthew Villalta. 

In the third frame, O’Brien tallied his second of the game 2:36 into the period to make it a one-goal game. Hughes was again behind the play, this time firing a shot into the pads of Villalta that saw the puck bounce towards the left face-off dot for O’Brien to tap into the empty net. 

Canada responded 1:25 later to regain a two-goal lead off a goal from Cale Addison after a scrum in the U.S. crease had pushed U.S. netminder Cayden Primeau (Voorhees, N.J.) out of position.

Paul Cotter (Canton, Mich.) brought Team USA back within one with a goal from the right circle with just over two minutes to play.

The U.S. continued pressing late in the period with an extra attacker, but was unable to net the equalizer. 

Petruzzelli, who started in goal for the U.S., finished with 15 saves while Primeau stopped eight shots in relief.

For the complete game statistics, click here.

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2018 WJSS

2019 World Juniors


U.S. Game Schedule

Sandman Centre
Kamloops, B.C.

Date Game Result Broadcast
Mon., July 30 USA Blue vs. Sweden L, 1-3 N/A
USA White vs. Finland W, 5-2 N/A
Tues., July 31 Canada White vs. USA Blue W, 3-2 N/A
Canada Red vs. USA White W, 7-5 N/A
Thurs., Aug. 2 USA vs. Sweden OTW, 5-4 NHL Network
Fri., Aug. 3 USA vs. Finland W, 2-1 NHL Network
Sat., Aug. 4 Canada vs. USA L, 5-6 NHL Network

2018 World Jr Showcase News

2019 U.S. World Jrs News