The Capitals prospects came in clutch for Team USA on Friday.
The Washington Capitals continue to see strong play from their prospects at World Juniors, and this time around, Ryan Chesley got a goal as he and Ryan Leonard helped Team USA secure a 4-3 shootout win over Czechia on Friday.
Less than three minutes after the Czechs went up 3-2 in the second, Chesley played hero and got on the board, getting to the slot and firing home a feed to the front to tie the game and ultimately force overtime and a shootout. It marked Chesley's first goal of the tournament as he put his impressive shot on display.
Chesley continues to play a pivotal role on the team's top pairing with Lane Hutson and also had three shots through 24:58 minutes of ice time, the second-highest total on the team en route to the eventual shootout win.
Leonard, who has points in each of his games so far in his first World Juniors experience, set up Will Smith on a nice pass in the second period. He has shown not only his scoring prowess so far this tournament, but he has also shown that he can make quick, smart plays on the fly to set up his teammates.
The Boston College freshman logged 13 minutes of ice time and had a turn in the shootout, but missed.
Team USA is now 3-0-0 to open the tournament, and the Capitals have also seen their two top American prospects put up a combined four points. Chesley went in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft, while Leonard was the team's eighth overall pick in this past year's draft. Washington was surprised to get both, thinking neither would fall to their respective positions.