Prized Red Wings goaltending prospect Trey Augustine makes 24 saves as Team USA takes WJC gold in Gothenburg
Prized Red Wings goaltending prospect Trey Augustine makes 24 saves as Team USA takes WJC gold in Gothenburg
For the second time in six months, Trey Augustine—just 18 years old—has beaten Sweden to win a gold medal for Team USA.
Last April in Switzerland, Augustine made 30 saves to earn a come-from-behind victory in overtime, and today, on hostile ice in Gothenburg, he turned aside 24 of the 26 shots he faced to secure a 6-2 victory for David Carle's dominant American side.
In between those two golds, Augustine was selected 41st overall by the Detroit Red Wings at the 2023 NHL Draft. His victory came at the expense of a pair of Red Wing prospects on the Swedish side—Axel Sandin Pellikka (selected one round prior to Augustine) and Anton Johansson (a 2022 fourth round draft choice).
The Americans struck first Friday in Gothenburg, with Gabe Perrault finishing off a perfectly worked Team USA counter-attack late in the first period. The Swedes answered early in the second when Otto Stenberg beat Augustine, but a pair of goals from Isaac Howard of Michigan State and the Tampa Bay Lightning in five minutes put the U.S. up 3-1.
Howard's line with Gavin Brindley and Frank Nazar proved the engine for a supremely talented American team—playing a relentless forechecking game at lightning pace with lethal finishing skills to boot. Jonathan Lekkimerimaki of the Vancouver Canucks—arguably the tournament's best forward—cut Team USA's lead to 3-2 late in the second.
In the third, Zeev Buium, Ryan Leonard, and, finally with the Swedish net empty, Rutger McGroarty provided insurance goals to cement the 6-2 final, with tempers flaring late between two teams with, despite their youth, plenty of shared history from past international tangles.
Alex Lyon has surged into the number one slot in the Red Wings' goaltending depth chart over the last two months, but over the last two weeks, Augustine—with his trademark poise—provided yet more reason for optimism about the future of the position in Detroit.
Of course, goaltending prospects always take time, and, for now, he will resume his pursuit of the Big Ten and national championships with Howard and Michigan State.
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