The U.S. advances to the quarterfinals of the World Juniors with a convincing win over Switzerland.
The U.S. National Junior Team had one objective heading into the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa: defend their gold medal from the year before.
The team took a step closer to that objective Thursday with a convincing 7-2 win over Switzerland at Canadian Tire Centre.
Numerous former NTDP players contributed to the cause. Ryan Leonard and James Hagens each scored two goals, while Gabe Perreault chipped in with three second-period assists. Leonard, the U.S. team captain, showed his toughness by enduring a high stick to the nose and a puck to the face.
Team USA has never lost to the Swiss in the World Juniors and now have 25 wins and two ties against them in 27 meetings. They’ve outscored Switzerland 161-52 over that span.
The U.S. jumped on the board with four goals in the first period before the Swiss knew what hit them. The first two came two minutes apart, with former Fargo Force and Youngstown Phantom Brandon Svoboda lighting the lamp first at 6:39. His shot, which took a weird angle, bounced off the stick and pad of current Green Bay Gamblers and Swiss starting goaltender Christian Kirsch.
A pair of NTDP alums got together and stretched the U.S. lead to 2-0. Brodie Ziemer found Hagens in front, and the possible top pick in the 2025 NHL Draft took his time before tucking in a shot past Kirsch.
Then, the captain came calling. Leonard scored the first of his two tallies five minutes later, taking advantage of a Swiss turnover in the neutral zone and cutting around Nils Rhyn to lift the puck over the glove of Hirsch for a 3-0 Team USA lead.
Elijah Neuenschwander came in to relieve Kirsch at that point, and it appeared Switzerland might gain some momentum from the switch. Jamiro Reber won a faceoff and got the puck to Rhyn in the U.S. zone. Rhyn sent a missile past former Fargo Force goalie Hampton Slukynsky to cut the U.S. lead to 3-1 at the 15:04 mark.
The Americans scored their final goal of the period two minutes later when former NTDP forward Oliver Moore took the puck in front for Danny Nelson, who tipped it in for a 4-1 lead.
The first intermission did little to stem the tide, as the U.S. scored three more unanswered goals in the middle frame. After Timo Bunzli took a high sticking double minor for the Swiss, Perreault found Zeev Buium for a tap-in on the doorstep for a 5-1 score at 7:45.
The Perreault-Hagens combination made it 6-1 at the 15:03 mark, then Perreault spotted Leonard 80 seconds later on a power play for a 7-1 advantage.
The Swiss managed a power-play goal of their own early in the third. Andro Kaderli put one past Slukynsky to cut the margin to 7-2, which ended up being the final score.
The Americans outshot Switzerland 31-19 and went 2-for-4 on the power play. Team USA leads the 2025 World Juniors with 29 goals in five games. They advance to the semifinal round on Saturday against Czechia. Puck drop is set for 7:30 Pm ET, and the game can be viewed on NHL Network.