The U.S. National Junior Team, which won Group A and is the second overall seed among the eight teams in the playoff round, will face Switzerland today in the quarters with opening faceoff set for 2:30 p.m. The game can be seen live on NHL Network.
The U.S. is coming off a 4-1 win over host Canada on New Year’s Eve before a sold-out crowd of nearly 19,000 at the Canadian Tire Centre. Team USA used three power play goals and 38 saves from Trey Augustine to secure the victory.
Switzerland, which finished fourth in Group B, earned one victory in its four preliminary round games. Its win came on Tuesday (Dec. 31) by way of a 3-1 decision over Kazakhstan.
The U.S. and Switzerland have met 26 previous times in the World Juniors and Team USA has never lost, with 24 wins and with two ties. The teams have battled just once in the quarterfinals previously, that a 3-2 U.S. triumph on Jan. 2, 2017, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Jordan Greenway scored the game-winner in the third period.
Cole Hutson is tied for the tournament lead in points entering play today with eight (2G, 6A), and leads the World Juniors with six assists. James Hagens (2G, 4A) and Cole Eiserman (2G, 4A) are tied for sixth in points with six each.
Team USA is looking to advance to the semifinal round of the World Juniors for the eighth time in the last 10 years.