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USA White Defeats Sweden; USA Blue Falls to Finland

By USAHockey.com, 08/03/15, 1:30PM EDT

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USA White Overcomes Sweden, 10-4

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Matthew Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.) and Brock Boeser (Burnsville, Minn.) each scored a hat trick as Team USA White defeated Sweden, 10-4, in the second international game here today at the USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, New York.

After a scoreless first period that saw Team USA White outshoot Sweden, 13-4, Boeser opened the scoring just :49 into the second stanza with a one-timer on a feed from Zach Werenski (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.).

Five minutes later, Tkachuk scored his first of three goals in a span of four minutes. The first tally came when Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) threw a puck on goal and Tkachuk was able to bat home the rebound. He scored his second when Larkin circled behind the net and found Tkachuk at the top of the crease for a one-timer that beat Sweden goaltender Felix Sandstrom low glove side.

Tkachuk’s third goal made it 4-0, USA White, when he received a pass on the right wall from Anders Bjork (Mequon, Wis.), skated to the slot and fired a wrist shot high glove side.

Boeser extended USA White’s lead to 5-0 at 10:40 when Scott Eansor (Englewood, Colo.) collected a pass from Jake Walman (Providence, R.I.), entered the zone along the right wall, and found Boeser alone at the top of the left circle for his second one-timer goal of the game.

Two minutes later, Auston Matthews (Scottsdale, Ariz.) connected on a two-man advantage to give USA White a 6-0 lead. Sweden’s Henrik Tornqvist beat a sprawling Luke Opilka (St. Louis, Mo.) with five minutes remaining in the period to make it 6-1.

Sweden connected again at 4:09 in the final stanza when Rasmus Asplund tucked a shot beneath Opilka’s blocker. Bjork gave USA White a 7-2 lead two minutes later when he beat Sweden’s goaltender high blocker side. Tkachuk collected an assist on the play for his fifth point of the game. Sweden connected on the power play at 8:13 to make it 7-3, USA White.

Eansor gave USA White an 8-3 lead when he finished a four-on-one with a wrist shot that rang off the left post and in.

Bjork tallied his second of the game in the final minutes, followed by a Swedish goal to make the score 9-4. Boeser completed his hat trick to account for the 10-4 final.

Evan Sarthou (Black Diamond, Wash.) stopped all six shots he faced through the first 30 minutes of the game before Opilka took the net for the USA White. Opilka finished with 14 saves.

Notes: The U.S. coaching staff will make roster cuts tomorrow (Aug. 4) and combine the two squads into one team. Follow worldjuniors.usahockey.com for more information.

USA Blue Defeated by Finland, 10-3

Lake Placid, N.Y. - Paul Bittner (Crookston, Minn.) scored twice and Kyle Connor (Shelby Mich.) tallied a pair of assists, but Team USA Blue fell to Finland, 10-3, here today at the USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, New York.

Finland opened the scoring at 4:05 in the first period with a rebound goal after Brandon Halverson (Traverse City, Mich.) made an initial shoulder pad save. Brandon Fortunato (Albertson, N.Y.) evened the score for USA Blue at 6:40 when he finished a pass from Kyle Connor (Shelby Township, Mich.) from the left circle. Colin White (Hanover, Mass.) also collected an assist on the play. A wrist shot from above the hashmarks beat Halverson high glove side to give Finland a 2-1 lead with five minutes remaining in the first.

Jesse Puljujaarvi extended Finland’s lead to 3-1 with a one-timer from the slot at 5:49 in the second stanza. Bittner brought USA Blue back within a goal when he found a loose puck in front of goal at 9:06. Five minutes later, Ryan MacInnis (St. Louis, Mo.) found Bittner at the right post for a backhanded shot that beat Finnish goaltender Veini Vehvilainen. Finland regained a two-goal lead with 2:48 remaining with a wrist shot from the left side.

Finland connected six times in the final frame for the 10-3 decision.

Halverson stopped 16 out of 19 shots before Kris Oldham (Anchorage, Alaska) took the net halfway through the second period. Oldham finished with 10 saves.


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