USA Pull Off Strong Third Period to Advance at U18’s

USA's hunt for their eighth gold medal in the past decade has gotten closer at the Under-18 World Hockey Championships thanks to a 5-1 victory over the hosts from Russia on Thursday evening.

The Americans got off to a great start thanks to one of their 2019 NHL Draft prospects. Cole Caufield fooled Amir Miftakhov, who thought the American winger would send the puck out to Jake Wise in front but instead shot the puck right through the Russian netminder's five-hole to make it 1-0 early in the first period.

Two-on-one opportunities were easy to come by on Thursday, with the Russians scoring one themselves to tie the game up at one. Similar to Caufield, Ruslan Iskhakov would wait out the American defence before sending the puck glove side on Drew DeRidder, knotting the battle up at one apiece.

The game would remain close until a late shorthanded goal by the Americans gave the defending champions the lead. This time, Joel Farabee would get his fourth goal of the tournament after capitalizing on an odd-man rush with a man down, giving USA the advantage late in the contest. 

Russia was hoping they could turn the game around, but the Americans instead took the 3-1 lead at 57:22. Oliver Wahlstrom would pick up the rebound after an attempt from Jack Hughes, putting the Americans up by two before Hughes and Jake Wise would each score one on the empty net, with USA taking the 5-1 victory on Thursday.

USA will meet up with the Czech Republic on Saturday evening in Russia for a chance to make the gold-medal game once again. USA has won seven of the past nine gold medals, including the 2017 event after topping Finland.

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