Kieffer Bellows and Casey Mittelstadt (Minnesota) each scored twice as the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team defeated Denmark 9-0 Tuesday night in its first preliminary round game of the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Mittelstadt was named the U.S. player of the game and one of Bellows’ goals was on a penalty shot at 4:08 of the second period.
“This was a good team win to get us started here in the tournament,” said Team USA coach Bob Motzko (St. Cloud State) in a statement. “I liked our special teams tonight and the fact that a lot of people were able to contribute. We’ll enjoy this win tonight, but tomorrow we move forward and turn our attention to the next task at hand.”
Max Jones, Logan Brown, Kailer Yamamoto, Patrick Harper (Boston University), Andrew Peeke (Notre Dame) and Dylan Samberg (Minnesota Duluth) also scored for the U.S., while Boston College goalie Joseph Woll picked up the shutout with a 17-save performance.
Team USA will practice Wednesday at New Era Field in preparation of its preliminary round outdoor game against Canada on Friday, Dec. 29. The U.S. will then return to game action on Thursday, Dec. 28, when it faces Slovakia in its second game of the World Juniors at 8 p.m. EST.
