USA Hockey Defeats Finland In World Juniors

VICTORIA, British Columbia (AP) — With Jack Hughes on the shelf, US Juniors continue to roll.

 

Northeastern's Tyler Madden scored twice and Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist as the United States closed out the preliminary round of the world junior hockey championship Monday night with a 4-1 win over Finland.

 

The Americans finished second in Group B behind unbeaten Sweden.

The U.S. will face the Czech Republic in the quarterfinal round. Russia plays Slovakia, Canada takes on Finland, and Sweden opposes Switzerland. Games resume Wednesday.

 

St. Cloud State's Ryan Poehling also scored and Michigan's Josh Norris had two assists as the Americans outshot Finland 39-28.

"I think as a team, collectively, we played great," Poehling said. "We for sure played a full 60, which was nice to see. It's going to be good for us heading into the medal round with that kind of confidence."

 

Northeastern's Cayden Primeau earned his second win in net and has a 1.50 goals-against average in the tournament.

"It really helps that the guys stepped up and were blocking shots and keeping them to the outside," Primeau said.

Jack Hughes, expected to be the first pick in the upcoming NHL draft, missed his third straight game with an undisclosed injury. He has not played since getting an assist in the opening 2-1 win over Slovakia.

Poehling thinks the American squad matches up well against the Czech Republic.

 

"We've got a lot of deep lines and they're kind of front-heavy," he said. "So for us to just tighten up against those top guys and play four lines, it's going to help us a lot."