Team USA opens World Juniors with shutout over Germany

The United States National Junior Team beat Germany 8-0 in its opening game of the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship Thursday at Ufa Arena in Ufa, Russia.

Team USA had eight different goal scorers in the win, while goaltenders John Gibson and Jon Gillies (Providence) combined for 26 saves. Gibson started and made 19 saves through 40 minutes.

[scg_html_wjc2013] “Overall, we played a well-balanced game,” said Team USA coach Phil Housley in a news release. “We got the start we needed to build a good pace and flow to the game. One thing I was really proud of was that when we did have the lead, we didn’t get away from the team game. We realized what got us the lead and they really focused on being aware of that over the three periods, so I was really pleased with that.”

Sean Kuraly (Miami), Jacob Trouba (Michigan), Riley Barber (Miami), Shayne Gostisbehere (Union), J.T. Miller (AHL’s Connecticut Whale), Seth Jones (WHL’s Portland Winterhawks), Ryan Hartman (OHL’s Plymouth Whalers) and Alex Galchenyuk (OHL’s Sarnia Sting) all scored for the United States.

Team USA next plays Friday, Dec. 28 against Russia. Game time is 8 p.m. local time (9 a.m. EST).