Spearheaded by a stellar contingent of New England, New York and New Jersey natives, the U.S. National Junior Team, behind 34 saves from Spencer Knight (Darien, Conn.) and goals from Trevor Zegras (Bedford, N.Y.) and Alex Turcotte, beat Canada, 2-0, Tuesday night in the gold-medal game of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
It was the fifth gold medal for the United States in the tournament and the fifth time in the past six years that Team USA has medaled in the event, the best medal stretch in the nation’s history.
Team USA scored the only goal of the opening period at 12:25 when Turcotte deflected one home off Drew Helleson’s shot from the far right point. The goal came after sustained pressure in the Canadian zone by the U.S. that spanned over multiple shifts. The U.S. was outshot 7-4 in the first 10 minutes of the period, but over the next five minutes took control and outshot the hosts by an 8-1 count. Knight, Boston College’s No. 1 goalie, was sharp in the opening stanza and made nine saves, including two on the only power play of the period.
Zegras, a former Boston University forward now with the Anaheim Ducks franchise, staked the U.S. to a 2-0 lead just 32 seconds into the second period when he took the carom off the end boards of an Arthur Kaliyev (Staten Island, N.Y.) shot that went wide and backhanded it in at the right side of the goal.
Kaliyev had two great chances on Team USA’s first power play of the game near the mid-point of the period, but Canada netminder Devon Levi (Northeastern University) was up to the challenge. Canada pressured in the back half of the period, but Knight stopped all 10 shots on goal in the stanza, including a point-blank save on Connor Zary at the goalmouth with just more than two minutes left in the middle frame.
Knight stood tall in the third period, stopping all 15 shots Canada put on goal, including several point-blank chances. It was the third shutout for Knight in the tournament and the fourth for Team USA.
Knight was named the U.S. Player of the Game, while Zegras was named Most Valuable Player of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship. Zegras captured the IIHF World Junior Championship scoring title with a line of 7-11-18.
The U.S. won its fifth gold medal in the IIHF World Junior Championship, with the previous four coming in 2017, 2013, 2010 and 2004.
Team USA was guided by Providence College head coach Nate Leaman and director of hockey operations Theresa Feaster. Providence student-athletes Brett Berard (East Greenwich, R.I.) and Patrick Moynihan (Millis, Mass.) became World Junior Championship gold medalists.
Berard finished the tournament with a goal, four assists and a plus-8 rating as key cog on the Team USA’s third line. Moynihan appeared in four games, tallying two assists and a plus-1 rating over that span.
Kaliyev was second on Team USA with eights points, including the clutch game-winner Monday night against Finland in the semifinals. Boston College’s Matthew Boldy (Millis, Mass.) finished with a 5-2-7 line, as did John Farinacci (Red Bank, N.J.) of Harvard.
Other locals included Harvard defenseman Henry Thrun (Southboro, Mass.), Michigan forward Matt Beniers (Hingham, Mass.) and Northeastern forward Sam Colangelo (Stoneham, Mass.), with all three contributing strong play throughout the tournament.
