The Capitals rising star played a big role en route to a 5-2 win.
The Washington Capitals saw Ryan Leonard put on a show in his first taste of World Championship action, as he helped lead Team USA to a win over Team Germany in the team's preliminary game before the start of the tournament next week.
Leonard skated on the top line with Oliver Moore and Tommy Novak, and also logged time on the top power-play unit. In total, he skated 15:57 minutes, posting an assist, one shot on goal and two penalty minutes.
The 21-year-old set up Ryker Lee on the man advantage, feeding him by the side of the net before Lee snuck a backhander high past Philipp Grubauer. It was the game-opening goal, and one that paved the way for a 5-2 win for the Americans.
Leonard is coming off a breakout rookie campaign for the Capitals, where he picked up 20 goals and 25 assists for 45 points in 72 games and took a major step forward in evolving his overall game after getting a taste of the NHL a season prior.
He is the lone player from Washington playing at Worlds, though he joins Ryan Lindgren, the younger brother of Capitals netminder Charlie, on the Team USA roster.
Team USA will now head to Switzerland and face the host country in the first game of the preliminary round on Friday. From there, the Americans will facce Great Britain, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Hungary and Austria in group play.
The quarterfinals will then take place on May 28, followed by the semifinals on May 30 and bronze and gold medal games on May 31.