Red Wings prospect Carter Mazur and Red Savage faced off against fellow Wings prospect Jan Bednar as Team USA battled Czechia in the World Junior Championship’s Quarterfinal round, with a spot in Friday’s Semifinal round on the line.
Team USA imploded, to a large extent, in this game. They scored the 1-0 goal, gave up 3 straight goals, had to kill a major penalty, and did not score on their major power play. Though Carter Mazur scored the 3-2 marker, the Czechs scored an empty-netter and won 4-2.
The Americans were definitely the grittier, more hard-working team, but the Czechs had speed, star power, size, and, quite frankly, they took advantage of the fact that, in single-elimination hockey, anybody can be the best team for one night. For one night, Tomas Suchanek (the Czech goalie) and the Czechs out-worked, out-hustled and out-detailed the Americans, and that was enough to afford them advancement to Friday’s Semifinal round.
So Friday’s Semfinal games are:
Canada vs. Czechia at 4 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network;
And Sweden vs. Finland at 8 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network.— George Malik (@georgemalik) August 18, 2022
In terms of Red Wings prospects playing in the game…
Carter Mazur: Mazur played right wing on the Americans’ first line, alongside Landon Slaggert and Thomas Bordeleau. He was, arguably, the Americans’ best player this side of Luke Hughes, who played through a knee injury, scoring the Americans’ second goal and working his tail off to come back from nasty cross-checks and trips that the Czechs got away with…
But he finished at -4 with 7 shots in 15:50 of ice time. It was a rough game for him and for everybody else on the U.S. roster.
Red Savage: Savage played as the center on the Americans’ fourth line, between Sasha Pastujov and Riley Duran. Savage finished even with 1 shot in only 9:37 played as the Americans stacked their lines, and while his positioning was superb on a night when the Americans lost their defensive assignments, and he skated well, he was only utilized in a limited role.
Jan Bednar: The Czechs didn’t even dress Bednar, per FloHockey’s Chris Peters. He hasn’t been spectacularly good or terribly bad during the tournament, but to not even dress your would-be starter for the Quarterfinal game was a bit odd. Tomas Suchanek started, and Pavel Cajan was the back-up. Because Suchanek was so dominant, he’s obviously going to start on Friday.
In terms of the game’s narrative:
In the 1st period:
The Czechs won the opening faceoff, but Mazur, Slaggert and Mazur set up on the cycle, Hughes turned and fired a shot that broke a Czech player’s stick, and the Czechs rebounded, but back up ice came the Americans, who went offside 34 seconds into the 1st period.
At least early on, both teams rolled four lines, not really too concerned about matching lines, and the Americans generated the first scoring chance, with Mackie Samoskevich sending the puck laterally to Dylan James, sent the puck wide of Tomas Suchanek.
Mazur’s line returned to the ice 2:30 into the 1st period, and Bordeleau poked the puck up ice to Mazur, who poked the puck into Suchanek;
The Americans were moving the puck up ice with urgency, dominating play in the neutral zone, and forechecking in the offensive zone.
Savage’s line took to the ice at 3:15, and their shift was effective, yielding a couple of dump-and-chase plays and some grinding in the offensive zone, where the Czechs checked a couple of Americans from behind.
Sans call.
Some 5 minutes into the game, the Czechs were just out of sorts, while the Americans were working on their puck possession game, establishing a hard forecheck as they quietly but consistently out-worked their opponents.
The Czechs’ first scoring chance came with Slaggert, Bordeleau and Mazur on the ice, but Kaidan Mbereko made a good stop and grabbed the rebound to stop play.
The first real scrum of the game came when Matt Coronato snowed Suchanek as he chose to hold the puck on a dump-in at 6:35.
Again, the few opportunities the Czechs had were particularly direct to the net-front and in on Mbereko.
Mazur did make a good play in terms of taking a chip pass from the blueline and bringing it out of the left wing end boards and chipping it on net…
But the Czechs came back with the top line on ice and generated two scoring chances as Urban and Mensik nearly converted on a from-the-goal-line-to-the-slot pass.
Samoskevich did rush into the offensive zone himself and fire a shot in on Suchanek that had to be stopped…
But the Czechs, who were being hemmed in, were also able to generate those explosive offensive chances when the Americans got caught cheating, and Ivan Ivan skated up ice and chipped a backhand shot off the shoulder of Mbereko 3-on-2, with the Czechs displaying superior speed some 9:24 into the 1st.
Savage jabbed a puck in on Suchanek just after the 10-minute mark and almost poked the rebound in during a short shift;
Slaggert raced in on Suchanek, who missed his poke check, and Mazur missed the net on the rebound…
Finally, the Americans chipped and chased, Suchanek tried to play the puck as it bounced off the Zamboni entrance out front, off Suchanek’s stick, and Logan Cooley tucked the loose puck in at 12:03 to give the Americans a 1-0 lead on a broken play.
🚨 Logan Cooley capitalizes on an unlucky bounce and opens the scoring just over halfway through the 1st period.
🇺🇸 USA 1 – 0 🇨🇿 Czechia#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/8SgA35Zqvz— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 18, 2022
Logan Cooley gets the opening goal of the game for @usahockey but also hats off to @narodnitym‘s Pavel Cajan for the stick save #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/lBSNDkxPFn— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) August 18, 2022
The Americans led 1-0 on a Cooley goal, from Matthew Coronato and Matt Knies.
The Czechs responded with a scoring chance of the looser variety immediately, and the Americans responded, too, with Luke Hughes and Logan Cooley racing back up ice to chip a puck on Suchanek.
Luke Hughes was generating chances off the rush as well…
Carter Mazur is not the fastest or most elegant skater, but he’s smart in terms of where he places the puck and how he uses his linemates and defensemen to manage the puck under pressure.
Savage and McKown cycled on the next shift, went offside, and chipped and chased, battling away, with Savage lurking at the periphery of the crease;
The Americans got away with one, too, as Ivan Ivan’s stick was knocked out of his hands, sans call, by an American defender;
Again, the Czechs were getting the occasional rush chance, but they were also over-passing and over-complicating their rushes, thus blunting their blazing speed.
As the period wound down, the Czechs tried to establish a forecheck of their own in the U.S. zone, but smart sticks and skates in shooting and passing lanes by the Americans blunted the attack…
Until a bad turnover yielded a 1-1 marker. Jan Mysak, the Czech captain, tipped the Jiri Tichacek shot over Mbereko and in at 17:55.
🚨 Jan Mysak tips home the point shot to tie the game late in the 1st period!
🇺🇸 USA 1 – 1 🇨🇿 Czechia#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/WbL1EnuAHC— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 18, 2022
🇨🇿 Jan Mysak ties it up for @narodnitym!#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/8PcebCjtd2— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) August 18, 2022
The Czech bench was loud after their goal and loud thereafter, cheering on their team’s late-period comeback.
Another bouncing shot in the slot yielded a late Czech tap-in that Mbereko stopped, and the Americans were surrendering the points far too easily to the Czech cycle, which was only stopped by the clock hitting 20:00.
In the 2nd period:
There was some concern as Luke Hughes got bumped by a Czech player and left the bench late during the 1st period. Hughes returned from the trainer’s room for the 2nd period, and that was a big relief for the Americans.
The Slaggert-Bordeleau-Mazur line started the 2nd period, pushed the puck up ice, and Mazur chipped and chased, was sealed, and the Czechs raced up ice but fired the puck wide.
On the ensuing rush, Mazur lurked around the net as Jacob Truscott fired a shot off Suchanek.
The Americans continued to bother Suchanek’s sight lines as the 2nd period progressed, with Czechia taking some umbrage to the concept.
Bafflingly, Samoskevich got pulled down along the right wing half boards by a Czech defenseman, but there was no call–and that was the game’s standard. Zilch.
As play continued, the Czechs generated more and more puck possession…
As Luke Hughes headed back to the bench early at 3:35, and stood up the whole time he stayed there, which is not a good sign…
And the Americans hit the 5-minute mark out-shooting the Czechs 18-11 in what had become a sleepy affair.
Mbereko had to make a stellar glove stop on Jiri Kulich as the Czechs swiped a puck away from Mazur and the American defense wasn’t able to turn and steal the puck back from the Kulich 1-on-2…
There were more and more of those turnovers in the middle of the ice occurring.
Berard deked and dangled in himself but Suchanek made a huge leg stop…
You could say that the Americans and Czechs were playing a, “Next goal wins” game, and they were.
The Czechs got that next goal.
With Mazur tripped at center ice, the Czechs raced in 3 on 2, and Petr Hauser ripped a top-shelf shot through Mbereko and off the top goalpost at 7:34. It was 2-1 Czechia.
🚨 Petr Hauser absolutely rifles one past Mbereko to give 🇨🇿 Czechia the lead!
🇺🇸 USA 1 – 2 🇨🇿 Czechia#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/0CgbSiGSFA— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 18, 2022
That release tho 😮 @narodnitym‘s Petr Hauser put Czechia up by 1 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/k26kTt7hZE— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) August 18, 2022
Mazur limped off very sore, and the Czechs did not mind. Nor did the refs, it seemed.
At the halfway mark of regulation, the Czechs trailed in shots 19-15, but the Czechs were doing a fine job of defending the Americans, whose forecheck had been negated, and Czechia was more than comfortable mucking things up through center ice and breaking in when the Americans broke down.
Mazur returned to the ice with Bordeleau and Slaggert, who were -2, at 10:30 of the 2nd. That’s not on Mazur, whose team wasn’t playing well…
As you might expect, the line finished their shift at -3.
🚨 Matyas Sapovaliv sneaks one through to extend 🇨🇿 Czechia’s lead halfway through the 2nd period.
🇺🇸 USA 1 – 3 🇨🇿 Czechia
LIVE NOW: TSN4 | #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/zuNDIjEu1w— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 18, 2022
Matyáš Šapovaliv’s shot sneaks through and Czechia has a 3-1 lead! #WorldJuniors
🔗: https://t.co/EQbi045fHNpic.twitter.com/ReLCi2HYTR— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) August 18, 2022
The Czechs broke out, roared up ice 3 on 2, and Mbereko gave up a horrible goal that went down off his defenseman and between his legs to give Sapovaliv a 3-1 goal at 10:45, from Jiri Kulich and Tomas Hamara.
The Czechs just continued to play disrupt-o-hockey and continued to generate odd-man rushes, especially with the Mazur line on the ice, which needed a shake-up, because Bordeleau was chasing the puck carrier all over the place, and Slaggert looked lost.
Of all lines, Red Savage’s fourth line with Riley Duran got the Americans’ 20th shot on Suchanek with only 5:00 remaining in the 2nd…
The shots were 20-17 and they stayed 20-17 for a good chunk of time.
With Hughes on the limp, the Americans unable to generate scoring chances and the Czechs looking big, hungry and mean…
Coach Nate Leaman did change up the lines.
Mazur, who was a little wobbly, and Bordeleau were joined by Riley Duran on a makeshift first line, and Duran noted that the Czechs had too many men with 2:45 left…
And, of course, that was missed.
What I noticed about Red Savage was simple: he was trying to keep his positioning in the defensive zone, battling for the puck and staying the third man high;
There was a big scrum at the end of the 2nd period, but that’s about all there was. The refs weren’t calling anything, the Czechs, who are already big and aggressive, were playing mean, and the Americans were flailing.
In the 3rd period:
Down 3-1, the Americans raced up ice and Mazur chipped a puck off Suchanek’s blocker, the Americans lost the ensuing faceoff, but they chipped and chased, and when Hughes lugged back to get the puck, Mazur jabbed the puck back into the zone, the Americans changed, and that single shot stood on the board for a minute.
In other words, it was an inelegant start, despite the fact that the Americans got the first shot off.
Of course the Czechs generated a 3-on-2 1:15 into the 3rd, and raced in and sent a shot off Mbereko’s blocker; then they hemmed in the Americans, who had to dump and change;
The Czechs also made the neutral zone hell on wheels for the Americans, forcing Team USA to slowly but surely skate into the Czech zone and try to fire long shots in on Suchanek, whose crease remained clear of obstructions to his field of view.
Unbelievably, Brett Berard took a penalty at 2:41 that was a “major under review”–and it was a slew foot.
After review, 🇺🇸 Brett Berard has been assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for slew-footing.
🇨🇿 Czechia is headed to the power-play in the 3rd period.
LIVE: TSN4 | #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/AoSgSsWazG— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 18, 2022
Brett Berard received a match penalty for this slew foot and became the fourth 😳 Rangers prospect to be ejected at this #WorldJuniors
pic.twitter.com/FWN9YWAglS— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) August 18, 2022
Berard was kicked out of the game and the Americans had to kill off a 5-minute major penalty with 17:19 left in regulation.
At 3:58, Stanislav Svozil took an equally dumb penalty for interference, giving the Americans 2 minutes of 4 on 4 time.
The Czechs worked over Bordeleau and Mazur, the Czechs worked over the U.S. defense, and Mazur at least got a good shot off on Suchanek, top shelf area, but Suchanek battled it down.
The Czechs managed to “kill” the 4-on-4 without incident, other than the Mazur shot, and they went back to the major power play for 1:33.
As you might imagine, the Czechs managed to generate scoring chances as the 8-minute mark passed and there were under 12 minutes remaining in the period…
While the Americans remained on different chapters of the same book, if they were reading the same book at all.
They were trying to make the puck do their work for them instead of skating through the Czechs, and with the refs barely calling an infraction, the Czechs were mucking and gucking and playing dirty…
And Svozil got called for a major penalty as Cooley was kneed hard at the Czech blueline, turning his knee out to take out Cooley at 9:04.
Svozil was tossed.
On the major penalty…
The Czechs were loud and proud as they killed the penalty, and the U.S. DID put a post shot off the bar and wide by Samoskevich, but the first unit and the first minute thereof was…
Meh.
The clock kept ticking down, and the Czechs were blocking shots, blocking shots, getting their sticks and skates in lanes, and CARTER MAZUR DID SCORE THE 3-2 GOAL with 8:29 remaining in regulation as the Americans went point to point, off #19 Slaggert, and Mazur jabbed the rebound in past Suchanek as he was being pushed into the net.
🚨 Carter Mazur picks up the rebound and buries it on the power-play. The Americans trail by one.
🇺🇸 USA 2 – 3 🇨🇿 Czechia#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/diWxFpDAxW— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 18, 2022
Needed it, @Carter_Mazur! 🙌#WorldJuniors 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/q29eng7KcE— USA Hockey (@usahockey) August 18, 2022
The Americans trailed 3-2.
With 2:33 remaining in the major penalty, Cooley turned over the puck and #29 Rysavy nearly scored a shorthanded marker, but he fired the puck wide;
Mazur, Bordeleau, Slaggert et. al. returned to the ice, and Mazur got a good shot off, but it was stopped.
With 6:35 remaining in regulation and 39 left on the major penalty, Bordeleau ripped at the net off a hard shot from Hughes, but the Czech defense tipped it out of play;
The Americans won that last PP faceoff, with Bordeleau winning it, Hughes and Bordeleau worked the puck to Cooley, they cycled, chipped a puck through traffic, Suchanek tipped it wide, and that was the major penalty.
With 5:55 left in regulation, Mbereko had to make a blocker stop off the Czech rush…
The Americans chipped and changed, Savage made a good play to take the puck away from a Czech forward, but he was blocked off before he could get a shot off;
Savage was tripped poking for the puck on the next play;
With 4:45 remaining, Mazur came back onto the ice, skated into the offensive zone, over-skated the puck, worked with his teammates to dump and chase, and he came back to backcheck before going off on a change;
With 4:02 remaining, the Americans were called for a hand pass;
The Americans won the defensive zone draw, but were unable to generate any sort of forecheck without a little help from some bad breaks by the Czechs, and, by the time the Czechs chipped and changed, there were 3:00 left…
Samoskevich charged toward the net and the Americans jabbed, Mazur jabbed, he was cross-checked from behind and got up real slow…
With 2:10 left, the Americans chipped and chased, Cooley and Kleven sent pucks wide, and the Americans pulled Mbereko.
Bordeleau drew in with 1:40 left, after the U.S. timeout, and the Czechs won the draw, and a blind pass by Hughes = the 4-2 goal by Kulich, into the empty net.
JIRI KULICH POTS THE EMPTY-NETTER FOR CZECHIA 🚨#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/t9IvHpmphm— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 18, 2022
The Americans did not surrender…
But Matt Coronato sent the puck wide of an empty net, the Americans battled at center ice, Mazur included, the Americans battled, battled and battled, but the clock ticked down, and the U.S. ran out of time.
The Czechs celebrated like they were Latvia the other day.
A MASSIVE UPSET AND @narodnitym ARE OFF TO THE #WORLDJUNIORS SEMI-FINALS! pic.twitter.com/PtPXq4zXxX— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) August 18, 2022
🇨🇿 CZECHIA UPSETS 🇺🇸 USA TO ADVANCE TO THE SEMIFINAL#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/TAeghKjjFw— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 18, 2022
SEMIFINÁLE! 🇨🇿😍
Dobré ráno, Česko! Čeští junioři přehráli zámorského favorita a na MSJ si zahrají o medaile 👏🏻
Děkujeme všem, co nám věřili a fandili 🦁 #U20CZE #WorldJuniors #narodnitym #jakolev #USAvCZE pic.twitter.com/lXpP8totFo— Bronzový nároďák (@narodnitym) August 18, 2022
This moment is everything @narodnitym #WorldJunior pic.twitter.com/DUdTB5qP6Z— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) August 18, 2022
Carter Mazur and Tomas Suchanek were named the players of the game; Bordeleau, Mazur and Hughes were named the Americans’ players of the tournament.
🚨 UPSET ALERT 🚨
CZECHIA HAS ELIMINATED THE DEFENDING GOLD MEDALLISTS! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/BRC5a5YOYk— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) August 18, 2022
CZECHIA WITH THE UPSET 🔥 🇨🇿 pic.twitter.com/S2lDcihYj9— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 18, 2022
🥺🥺🥺 pic.twitter.com/6cjn2DmhW9— Bronzový nároďák (@narodnitym) August 18, 2022
