2015 World Juniors USA vs. Slovakia: BC’s Demko Leads USA to 3-0 Shutout Win
By Joe Micik
With Team USA vs. Slovakia this evening in Montreal, it was another day and another shutout for the Americans.
Boston College sophomore goalie Thatcher Demko pitched Team USA’s second shutout in as many nights, as his team remains perfect with a 3-0 win over Slovakia.
The American goaltender stopped all 17 shots that he faced on Monday, but his offense did much more work than Slovakia’s did: Team USA loaded up 45 shots on-goal, forcing Slovak goalie Denis Godla to make 42 saves in defeat.
In his first appearance of the World Juniors against Finland, Demko allowed one goal as Team USA won in a shootout. Yesterday against Germany, backup Brandon Halverson won in a 6-0 shutout victory. Demko is 2-0 in net so far in this tournament.
Former Boston College hockey commit Sonny Milano scored the game-winning goal with 2:18 remaining in the second period, giving Team USA a 1-0 lead from which they never looked back.
Boston College Eagles
As for other Eagles who appeared in the contest, freshman forward Alex Tuch took four shots on goal without notching a point. Incoming commit Miles Wood had two shots, as did freshman defenseman Noah Hanifin, while Ian McCoshen took no shots but was plus-1 for the game.
Team USA vs. Slovakia was scoreless until almost 38 minutes in, but with another heavy imbalance of shots on-goal and the strong goaltending of Demko, it turned out to be another easy victory for the Americans. Things are about to get more interesting, however, as red, white, and blue are due next to play Team Canada at 4pm on New Year’s Eve.
As of the conclusion of the Team USA game, with Canada still to play on Monday evening, America was first in Group A with eight points — three each for their two regulation wins and two for their shootout win. With a regulation victory over defending champions Finland, Canada would move back out in front with nine points. Both are well clear of the rest of Group A, including Slovakia, Finland, and Germany.