U.S. Wins 2021 WJC Title

Alex Turcotte (Wisconsin) deflected home a shot midway through the first period tonight, and Trevor Zegras (Boston University) put in a rebound early in the second stanza to lift the United States to a 2-0 win over host Canada in the gold medal game of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton, Alberta.

Spencer Knight (Boston College) finished with 34 saves for the Americans in recording his third shutout of the tournament, and earned U.S. Player of the Game accolades. Zegras, who also assisted on Turcotte's goal, finished as the event's top scorer with seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points, and was named tournament MVP as the U.S. won its first WJC title since 2017, and fifth overall.

Team USA was guided this year by head coach Nate Leaman (Providence), who became the third American head coach to win a WJC gold medal and an NCAA championship in his career. 

Other NCAA-trained members of this year's USA title team included Matthew Boldy (Boston College), Matthew Beniers (Michigan), Brett Berard (Providence), Bobby Brink (Denver), Brendan Brisson (Michigan), Cole Caufield (Wisconsin), Sam Colangelo (Northeastern), Brock Faber (Minnesota), John Farinacci (Harvard), Drew Helleson (Boston College), Ryan Johnson (Minnesota), Tyler Kleven (North Dakota), Jackson LaCombe (Minnesota), Patrick Moynihan (Providence), Jake Sanderson (North Dakota), Landon Slaggert (Notre Dame), Logan Stein (Ferris State), Henry Thrun (Harvard) and team captain Cameron York (Michigan). 

Devon Levi (Northeastern) made 19 stops for 2020 champion Canada, which had outscored its WJC opponents this year by a 41-4 count prior to the gold medal game. Also on Canada's roster with NCAA experience were Alex Newhook (Boston College) and Dylan Holloway (Wisconsin).

Finland, the 2019 WJC champion, defeated Russia, 4-1, earlier on Tuesday in the bronze medal game to place third this year. Canada will host next year's event in both Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.

U.S. To Play Canada for 2021 WJC Gold

Arthur Kaliyev broke a 3-3 tie with just 76 seconds remaining in regulation, and the U.S. National Junior Team held on the rest of the way for a 4-3 victory over Finland in a semifinal game tonight at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton, Alberta.

Alex Turcotte (Wisconsin), assisted by Kaliyev, staked Team USA to a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, before Finland responded just over a minute later to tie the score. The Americans then got second-period goals from John Farinacci (Harvard) and Matthew Boldy (Boston College) in the second stanza to take a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. Finland then knotted matters once more, on two goals less than five minutes apart in the final frame, which set the stage for Kaliyev's late heroics.

Spencer Knight (Boston College) made 33 saves for the Americans, who will now face WJC host and defending champion Canada on Tuesday night (9:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network) in the gold medal game. Canada advanced to this year's championship contest with a 5-0 win over Russia on Monday, with Alex Newhook (Boston College) notching the game-winning goal for the Canadians. Russia and Finland will also meet tomorrow, in the bronze medal match.

U.S. Shuts Out Sweden to Win Group B

The U.S. National Junior Team set itself up for Saturday's quarterfinal round with its third straight shutout at the IIHF 2021 World Junior Championship in Edmonton, Alberta. The Americans blanked Sweden, 4-0, on New Year's Eve to finish first in Group B and also complete the round robin portion of the event with three regulation wins and a loss.

Trevor Zegras (Boston University) scored once and tallied two assists against Sweden, while Alex Turcotte and Ryan Johnson (Minnesota) notched the other U.S goals. Spencer Knight (Boston College) turned aside all 27 shots he faced for his second straight WJC shutout, as the Americans closed out the calendar year with three consecutive victories in the tournament. The U.S outshot Sweden, 37-27, and has now outscored its opposition, 22-0, in its last three WJC outings after beginning the tournament with a 5-3 loss to Russia on Christmas night.

Team USA will now face Slovakia on Saturday night (10:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network).

USA Blanks Austria at WJC for First Win

Following a 5-3 opening game loss to Russia on Christmas, the United States rebounded tonight for a 11-0 victory over Austria in Group B play at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton. 

Matthew Boldy (Boston College) paced the U.S. with three goals, while Alex Turcotte (Wisconsin) set up three goals and Trevor Zegras (Boston University) had two goals and two assists as Team USA outshot Austria, 73-10. Spencer Knight (Boston College) sat out Sunday's game in net, after absorbing the loss against Russia by surrendering four goals on 12 shots against that night.

The U.S. will return to EJC action on Tuesday against the Czech Republic, a 2-0 winner over Russia tonight.

NCAA Season Over, College Signings By NHL Has Begun

With the NCAA hockey season cancelled by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the NHL season on hold due to the same, several players have already jumped ship from the former level to the latter.

The biggest undergraduate catch so far has been Drew O'Connor (Dartmouth), who signed as a free agent last week with the Pittsburgh Penguins after two years of college hockey. The 6-foot-3 native of Chatham, N.J. posted an assist in his final NCAA appearance, a 5-4 overtime loss to Princeton on March 7 in the ECAC Hockey tournament that ended Dartmouth's 2019-20 season. He finished the campaign leading the Big Green with 22 goals and 34 points in 31 games, and posted 38 goals and 59 points in 64 career contests.

Signing with the New York Rangers last week after four NCAA seasons was Patrick Khodorenko (Michigan State). The six-foot forward from Walnut Creek, Cal., led the Spartans this past season with 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points in 36 outings. In 143 career contests with MSU, he finished with 54-68—120 points.

Also signing with the Rangers recently was defenseman K'Andre Miller (Wisconsin), who posted seven goals and 28 points as a sophomore with the Badgers. Wisconsin teammate Alex Turcotte signed with the Los Angeles Kings after notching nine goals and 26 points in his only NCAA season.