Condon Gets Shutout in 4-0 American Victory Over France

Photo: Ing. Vladimír Koláček

The United States were able to grab their second win of the tournament and put them back in the top four of Group B after overcoming a slow start to beat France 4-0.

The first period saw no scoring, something that may have caught some American fans by surprise. Using the youngest roster in the entire tournament, the team sent 13 shots towards French goalie Florian Hardy, who stopped everything in a perfect first period for the backup goaltender. France had to play the game without defensemen Teddy Trabichet and Florian Chakiachvili on the roster, leaving the team with very few actual defensemen dressed in the lineup.

The Americans have been using this tournament over the past few years to develop players for the NHL and the Olympics, so their inabilty to score after 30 minutes of play wasn't overly shocking. France, one of the hardest working teams in the tournament, had a much stronger start in the second period, even leading the shots 8-4 at a point in the frame.

The second half proved to be costly for the French, however, as the Americans combined for three goals. It all started on the power play wuth six minutes to go when Nick Foligno found Chris Wideman all alone in front, easily banging in the one-timer on the empty cage to make it 1-0 Americans.

Then, two minutes after that, it was Connor Murphy's time to shine. Auston Matthews did most of the work, skating around the offensive zone unchallenged almost completely before sending it over to Murphy. Murphy's shot is not to be missed, and the young defenseman was able to fire it past Hardy and in for the 2-0 goal.

With just five seconds left in the second period, the Americans took the big 3-0 lead heading into the intermission. J.T. Compher took advantage of a great one timer in front after a pass from experienced veteran Matt Hendricks, beating Hardy for the three goal advantage.

The Americans were able to get their fourth goal in just seven minutes of game action early in the third. This time, Dylan Larkin fed Brady Skjei at the point just a minute into the final frame, using his accurate wrist shot to penetrate Hardy and give USA the 4-0 lead. The goal was the only one in a very fast third period, finishing off an impressive 4-0 victory for the Americans on Thursday.

USA will have an easy match-up on Friday with an early meeting with Hungary at 16:15 local time (9:45 am ET). France will have the day off on Friday before meeting up with Finland on Saturday during the early slot at 12:15 local, 5:15 AM ET.

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