Golden Knights Tie Series with Utah

Jack Eichel (Boston University) set up three goals and Noah Hanifin (Boston College) had two assists as the visiting Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Utah Mammoth, 5-4, in overtime last night, in Game Four of their 2026 Stanley Cup Playoff series. The best-of-seven NHL Western Conference first-round matchup is now tied at two games apiece,

Nick Schmaltz (North Dakota) had a goal and assist for the Mammoth, who fought back from an early three-goal deficit to take a one-goal lead before Vegas came back to tie it in the third period prior to winning in OT. Game Five is Wednesday night in Las Vegas.

 

USA Wins Bronze Medal at World Juniors

The U.S. National Junior Team defeated Sweden today, 8-3, in Helsinki, Finland to finish in third place at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships.

It is the first WJC bronze medal for the U.S. since 2011, and first WJC medal overall since winning gold in Russia in 2013. The U.S. has now claimed three gold, one silver, and four bronze medals in WJC play all-time, according to worldjuniors.usahockey.com.

Anders Bjork (Notre Dame) and Ryan Donato (Harvard) each scored two goals for Team USA on Tuesday, while Nick Schmaltz (North Dakota) posted three assists. Donato's first goal stood up as the game-winner, after Brock Boeser (North Dakota) put the U.S. ahead, 3-2, for good early in the second period, via usahockey.com.

The Americans were relegated to this year's bronze medal game after a 2-1 semifinal-round loss yesterday to Russia, which fell to host Finland, 4-3, in overtime in the gold medal match. The only U.S. loss in the preliminary round this year came against Sweden, 1-0,

The Americans finished with a 3-0-0-1 record in round-robin play, with victories over Canada, Denmark and Switzerland. The U.S. then bested the Czech Republic, 7-0, on Saturday in a quarterfinal-round contest.

According to worldjunior2016.com, the U.S. boasted the top save percentage (.948) and top goals-against average (1.44) in this year's tournament. Next year's WJC will return to Montreal and Toronto, site of the 2015 gathering, where the U.S. finished in fifth place overall as host Canada won the gold medal.

Five Incoming College Freshmen Taken in First Round of NHL Entry Draft

Five incoming NCAA freshmen, including four defensemen, were selected in the first round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh on Friday night.

Jacob Trouba, who played for the U.S. National Development Team and is committed to Michigan for next season, was picked ninth overall by the Winnipeg Jets. Latvian-born forward Zemgus Girgensons, who played with Dubuque (USHL) and will skate at Vermont next year, was nabbed 14th overall by the Buffalo Sabres. His junior teammate, Quebec native Michael Matheson, was taken 23rd by the Florida Panthers, and is headed to Hockey East opponent Boston College in the fall.

Jordan Schmaltz (pictured), who is off to North Dakota for 2012-13, was tabbed 25th overall by the St. Louis Blues after playing in Green Bay (USHL). Brady Skjei, who has agreed to play at Minnesota, was chosen 28th overall by the New York Rangers from the U.S. NTDP.

Rounds 2 through 7 of the draft will be conducted on Saturday.