USA Tops Norway, 8-2, in Preliminary Round Action

ESPOO, Finland - James Hagens (Hauppauge, N.Y.) collected a goal and two assists and six other U.S. skaters added multiple points as the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team skated past Norway, 8-2, tonight here at Metro Arena in the team's second preliminary round game at the IIHF U18 Men's World Championship.

"I'm proud of our guys for managing the game tonight and coming away with another win,” said Team USA head coach Nick Fohr. “Now we need to shift our focus and be ready for a Latvian team tomorrow that we know is going to play hard and compete."

Team USA took advantage of an early power play to get on the board 6:34 into the game. After Hagens set up Cole Eiserman's (Newburyport, Mass.) initial one-timer that was pushed aside, Max Plante (Hermantown, Minn.) was first to the loose puck in the corner. He returned it to Eiserman, who deposited his second attempt far-side over the blocker of Amund Martinsen for his fourth goal of the tournament.

Thirty-two seconds later, the U.S. doubled its lead, courtesy of a Kamil Bednarik (Chicago, Ill.) snipe from between the hashes. After a Norway defensive-zone turnover, Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, Mass.) chipped the puck up to Bednarik. He cut between two defenders towards center ice and ripped a quick shot for a 2-0 lead.

Eiserman grabbed his second of the period, again on the man advantage at 13:28 of the first. After an impressive passing display, Hagens toured the offensive zone and went cross-ice onto Eiserman's tape for his patented one-timer from the right circle. Plante picked up the secondary helper for all three skaters' second point of the frame.

HIGHLIGHTS

Before the close of the opening 20 minutes, Trevor Connelly (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) made it four in a row as he was spurred ahead on a breakaway by a stretch pass from LJ Mooney (West Mifflin, Pa.). In alone, Connelly deked quickly and fired over the blocker of Martinsen for a 4-0 lead. Christian Humphreys (Pittsburgh, Pa.) poked the puck to Mooney to collect his second point of the tournament.

Team USA added another 2:09 into the second off a sharp-angled shot from Mooney. Logan Hensler (Woodbury, Minn.) sent a long outlet to the forward who collected at the blue line, drove the right lane and banked his shot from the bottom of the circle off the goalie and in.

With a little more than five minutes to play in the middle period, Humphreys was tripped unabated to the net and awarded a penalty shot. He skated in slowly and picked the top right corner for his second goal in as many games.

In the opening minute of the final period, Norway's Mikkel Eriksen chipped one up and over U.S. goaltender Jack Parsons (Ithaca, N.Y.) to put the Norwegians on the board.

Team USA responded with 13:06 to play as Hensler snapped one in from the center point, assisted by Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen (Northville, Mich.) and Connelly.

Hagens grabbed his third point of the evening, with a quick release from the left hashes to complete Team USA's scoring.

Mattias Dehli converted for Norway on a late power play for the game's 8-2 final.

Parsons finished with 16 saves to pick up his first IIHF victory in net.

Team USA is back in action tomorrow (April 28) as they square off with Latvia in the third game of the preliminary round. Opening faceoff is set for 6:00 p.m. local / 11:00 a.m. ET and the game will air live on NHL Network.

NOTES: With two goals scored, including the game winner, Cole Eiserman was named Team USA’s Player of the Game … The U.S. went 2-6 on the power play while Norway was 1-3 … Team USA outshot Norway, 38-18 ... Team USA is back in action tomorrow against Latvia at 11:00 a.m. ET on NHL Network ... For complete tournament news, including full schedule, broadcast information, stats and standings, click here ... Team USA news, including tournament interviews and highlights, can be found at TeamUSA.USAHockey.com.