Trey Augustine (Michigan State) made 38 saves and the U.S. National Junior Team scored three times on the power play on the way to a 4-1 victory over Canada Tuesday night in the final preliminary round game for both teams in the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ont.
With the victory, the U.S. won its preliminary round pool for the fifth straight year.
“I liked our emotion and how we played for each other,” said United States coach David Carle (Denver) in a statement. “Trey was excellent in goal and our special teams did a great job. We’ll enjoy this tonight and get set for our quarterfinal game against Switzerland.”
Cole Hutson (Boston University) nearly opened the scoring for the U.S. with 12:46 remaining in the first period, as his shot beat Canadian netminder Carter George, but rang off the post.
Hutson did give the U.S. the lead on its first power-play opportunity as he fired a shot from between the circles that found the back of the net at 13:02. Cole Eiserman (Boston University) assisted on the play.
Team USA captain Ryan Leonard (Boston College) nearly gave the U.S. a 2-0 lead late in the period, but his shot from the slot hit the short-side post.
Augustine, named the U.S. Player of the Game, sprawled to make a pair of crucial saves at the 7:06 mark of the second frame with Canada on the power play to maintain the U.S. lead and stopped 15 total shots in the frame.
The scored remained 1-0 in favor of the U.S. through 40 minutes of play, despite 28 combined shots from the teams in the middle stanza.
Bradly Nadeau (Maine 2023-24) scored on the power play at 1:58 of the third to tie the game, but just 2:24 later, Danny Nelson (Notre Dame) put the U.S. ahead for good as he fired one home from the slot on the power play after a pass from Hutson.
Eiserman added to the U.S. advantage at 13:21 with his team’s third power-play goal of the night. Leonard capped off the scoring with an empty-net goal to account for the 4-1 final score.
The U.S. National Junior Team will face Switzerland in the quarterfinals Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on NHL Network.
