Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Oldest & Youngest lead Team USA past Sweden

 

Thirty-five year old Nick Bonino and 19 year old Lane Hutson each scored a goal in Team USA's 4-3 overtime win against Sweden in the IIHF World Championships in Finland. The win gave the US a perfect 7-0 slate in the preliminary round for the first time ever. The David Quinn-coach US squad will face Czechia in the quarterfinals on Thursday. 

After Sweden took a 1-0 lead on a 5-on-3 power play, team captain Bonino knotted the score with a dart from the right face-off circle for his third goal of the tournament.


The U.S. took the lead in the second period on a Connor Garland goal. Late in the period, Hutson came out of the penalty box, pilfered the puck at the U.S. blueline and broke in on the Swedish goalie, beating him high to the stick side. It was his second goal of the tournament.

 

After Sweden tied the score with two goals late in the third, Dylan Samberg scored the overtime winner for the U.S.

Bonino is Team USA's faceoff leader, winning 59.17% of draws. Earlier in the week, Drew Commesso saw his first tournament action, playing the final 12 minutes of the U.S.'s 9-0 win against France.

Ahti Oksanen scored his second goal of the tournament for host Finland in a win against Austria. The Finns will face off against Canada in the quarterfinals. 

►Yardbarker: Blackhawks of Tomorrow: Is Drew Commesso the next "Crow"? 

 

Looking ahead

                           Tom Willander – 2023 NHL Draft Prospect Profile

 

In The Hockey Writers' annual pre-draft superlatives rundown, 2023 recruit Tom Willander was named "Biggest Draft Year Riser," in part due to his breakout performance in the World U18 championships.

There were lots of players who could fit in this category, with David Reinbacher and Axel Sandin Pellikka becoming the consensus top-two defenders in the class despite both of them being relatively unknown before the season. However, Tom Willander, was a relative unknown for many fans until May where he excelled on Sweden’s second pairing at the U18 World Juniors, likely giving himself a chance at being drafted in the top-20. He’s an excellent skater and has a right-handed shot which means he has a ton of value even if his offensive game doesn’t develop much further.

Willander, a 6'1" right-shot blueliner, also was a runner-up in the "Best Skater" category.

 

Looking back

The Western Conference finals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are going wonderfully for one Terrier and just the opposite for another. Jack Eichel's Vegas Golden Knights have taken a 3-0 lead in the best of seven series against Dallas and the former Hobey Baker Award winner leads his team with 16 points (6G,10A). In game 2, his steal and set-up pass enabled Vegas to tie the score at three apiece, before they won in overtime. 

Meanwhile, Jake Oettinger, who had excelled in goal during the regular season and in earlier playoff series, struggled as did the rest of the Stars. They dropped two overtime games before being blanked in game 3. Dallas faces a near-impossible task of winning the next four games. It's been done before: in 1975 the Islanders lost the first three to Pittsburgh in the conference semifinal, before storming back with four wins. They almost duplicated the feat in the conference final against eventual Cup champion Philadelphia. New York lost the first three to the Flyers, won the next three and lost in game seven.

 

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