Gaudreau Does It Again, U.S. Blanks Czechs

Boston College forward Johnny Gaudreau (pictured) followed up his two-goal performance against Slovakia on Monday with a hat trick this morning as the United States blanked the Czech Republic, 7-0, in its quarterfinal round opener at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia.

Gaudreau opened the scoring in the first period on a power play, and then made it 2-0 in the second stanza, also with a man advantage, according to usahockey.com. His five goals now leads the U.S. in the tournament. Jacob Trouba (Michigan) saw his three-game goal-scoring streak come to an end, but still registered four assists against the Czechs.

The U.S., which tallied five power-play goals in all in the victory, advances to an elimination game tomorrow against northern rival Canada at 4 a.m. ET (NHL Network). Canada edged Team USA, 2-1, in the preliminary round last week.

Tomorrow's winner will face the winner of Russia and defending WJC champion Sweden for the title.