Comfortable American win against Belarus

After the loss to Canada yesterday USA needed a win against Belarus tonight in St. Petersburg. And they got it. Powerplay was the melody tonight. Three of the American goals were scored with the man advantage and so was two of the Belarusian.

It was the young top prospect Auston Matthews who led USA tonight with two goals and an assist. Matthews has made big headlines in Swiss NLA this season and is likely to be picked first in the upcoming NHL draft. Noah Hanifin of Carolina Hurricanes also had a three-point game (1+2).

USA scored twice in the first period and after Dylan Larkin's 3-0 goal early in the second period they had full control of the game and never let Belarus close.

"It was a very fun game and I thought that was a very tough Belarus team." American goalie Mike Condon said to iihf.com. "They did play with a lot of heart and energy. The fans are crazy. So it was a very fun experience, and I’m just happy we got to see our flag raised at the end."

Belarus will after hard opponents Finland and USA continue with another difficult task: Canada. Then await games they need to win to battle for the fourth place in the group: Slovakia, Germany, Hungary and France. USA play Finland in their next game.

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