The United States opened the 2026 IIHF World Under-20 Championship with a 6–3 win over Germany in Group A play at Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul.
USA struck first at 5:34 of the first when Max Plante scored, with Teddy Stiga and Adam Kleber getting the assists. At 10:53, Chase Reid made it 2–0 off feeds from Will Zellers and Brendan McMorrow, and Will Horcoff pushed the lead to 3–0 at 15:55. Germany got on the board late in the period at 17:39, with Timo Kose scoring to cut it to 3–1 heading to intermission.
Germany tightened the game early in the second, as Simon Seidl scored at 5:46 to make it 3–2. USA answered at 10:31 when Zellers restored a two-goal cushion (assisted by Cole Hutson and Anthony Spellacy), but Germany responded again less than a minute later at 11:27 on Lenny Boos’ goal (assisted by Dustin Willhoft and Moritz Kretzschmar) to pull within 4–3.
The Americans created separation with two more even-strength goals before the period ended. Zellers scored his second at 14:58 (assisted by Spellacy), and Cole Eiserman added the sixth at 18:07 with Hutson picking up the assist.
https://twitter.com/usahockey/status/2004712919360225360
The U.S. will have little rest before its next contest, as they will face Switzerland as they continue Group A play. Elsewhere in the group, a late goal by Ivor Stenberg broke a 2-2 tie as Sweden skated past Slovakia 3-2.