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ЧЕМПИОНАТ МИРА СРЕДИ ЮНИОРОВ ДО 18 ЛЕТ 2023 ГОДА |
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Leonard gets golden goal for U.S.
by Lucas Aykroyd|30 APR 2023. iihf.com
It was a rematch to remember. Ryan
Leonard scored at 2:20 of overtime to give the U.S. a thrilling 3-2
gold-medal win over Sweden at the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World
Championship in Basel.
Leonard cut into the slot and fired a quick shot that squeezed past
Swedish goalie Noah Erliden. The top-line winger flung away his stick
and gloves and skated triumphantly to the side boards as his U.S.
teammates mobbed him.
"[Cole Hutson] gave it to me," said a beaming Leonard, who finished
third in tournament scoring (8+9=17). "I actually saw their defender
had a little bit of a weaker gap, and I tried to get to the middle and
shot it."
For coach Dan Muse's highly skilled and hard-working Americans,
dethroning Sweden was a wonderful revenge. The U.S lost last year's
final 6-4 to Sweden and last won gold in 2017. This is their
tournament-record 11th gold medal of all time.
The U.S. rallied from a 2-0 third-period deficit on third-period goals
by Danny Nelson and Carey Terrance. Tournament MVP and scoring leader
Will Smith assisted on Terrance's equalizer. With that assist, Smith
matched Jack Hughes' U.S. single-tournament points record (9+11=20,
2019).
"It's pretty special," Smith said. "I said it didn't matter if we
didn't win, and we won. So I think it's pretty cool. And we're
celebrating everything. It's unbelievable."
Coach Anders Eriksen's Swedes, who got goals from Elliot Stahlberg and
Noel Nordh, were stunned after failing to retain their crown. Still,
the Scandinavians have now medalled at five straight U18 Worlds.
"We played really well tonight," said Swedish captain Otto Stenberg.
"We worked as hard as we can. We played really well for 50 minutes. And
we lost. Right now, it feels terrible."
The U.S. outshot Sweden 41-32.
For most of the night, the Swedes supported the puck well and denied
the top U.S. line of Smith, Leonard, and Gabe Perreault the time and
space they'd had in their previous six wins. But the Americans found a
way.
Leonard, Smith, Brady Cleveland, and goalie Trey Augustine were the
four 2022 returnees for whom this revenge clearly tasted the sweetest.
"We worked our butts off for two years straight," Smith said. "We're
doing work that no one else was doing. We had 20 minutes left with our
group, and we said, 'Why not put all we have into it?' And after that
first [goal], we could feel the momentum. It worked out well."
In a fast-paced first period, Sweden scored on its first Grade-A chance
at 9:33. Anton Wahlberg dug the puck out with an aggressive forecheck
and found Stahlberg in the slot. Stahlberg scored high to the glove
side. The U.S. challenged the play for goalie interference, but it was
ruled good.
On the first U.S. man advantage, a spectacular passing play by Smith
and Perreault put Terrance unguarded on the doorstep, but Erliden
robbed him with the right pad.
In the second period, Wahlberg remained dangerous. He danced through
the U.S. defence just over a minute in and Augustine stymied his
attempt with his own right pad save.
"Trey's Trey," said Leonard. "He's the best goalie in the world and he has our back anytime."
The Swedes went up 2-0 at 7:14 on the power play. Swedish rearguard
Axel Sandin Pellikka capped off some stellar puck movement by sending
it from the right faceoff circle to Nordh, who was positioned on the
doorstep to tip it in. It was Nordh's third goal of these U18 Worlds.
At this point, the Americans struggled to navigate through a forest of blue-and-yellow sweaters.
With tension mounting, the U.S.'s Zeev Buium hit Erliden's left post
early in the third period. Nearing the nine-minute mark, the Swedish
goalie stoned Oliver Moore with a glove save in close.
With 9:44 left, Nelson finally cut the deficit to 2-1, tipping in Buium's point shot. The Americans had life.
"I figured I'd better try to get across the goalie's eyes, and I was
just able to get a stick on it and redirect it in," Nelson said.
The U.S. capitalized when David Edstrom was sent off late for holding.
Cole Eiserman, who tied Smith for the tournament goals lead (nine),
unleashed a laser from the right faceoff circle that Terrance deflected
to make it 2-2 with 3:16 remaining.
Muse's boys had a nervous stretch when Smith took a hooking minor with
1:03 left. The Swedes called their timeout to strategize. They fired
shots from all angles, but couldn't beat Augustine as the power play
carried over into overtime.
Of his emotional state, Smith said: "It was pretty up and down. I mean,
between periods after the third, I was begging guys to get the kill!
And they said they got me, and I trusted them. And I knew Trey wasn't
gonna let one get by him."
Nord reflected on the loss: "It's very tough. I mean, we are working so
hard for this, and I love to play with this group and for Sweden. It
sucks right now."
The Americans tied Canada's 2021 record for most goals in a tournament
(51) and set a new record for best goal difference (51-10).
Does another gold medal lie in store for the Americans in 2024? Or will
there be a new champion? Hockey fans around the world are already eager
to find out the answer. |
Сборная США |
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