Joel Farabee (Boston University) scored a natural hat trick in the first period as the U.S. National Junior Team defeated Kazakhstan 8-2 in its second game of the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship Friday night in Victoria, B.C.
The United States outshot Kazakhstan 66-13.
“We’ve talked about taking steps in this tournament and we took a good one here tonight as a team,” said Team USA coach Mike Hastings (Minnesota State) in a statement. “Up and down the lineup, we had contributions and that’s the most important thing. Now, we get some rest, take care of our bodies and in the morning, turn our attention to Sweden.”
Cayden Primeau (Northeastern) finished with 11 saves for the Americans, while Ryan Poehling (St. Cloud State), Sasha Chmelevski (Ottawa 67’s), Oliver Wahlstrom (Boston College), Tyler Madden (Northeastern) and Josh Norris (Michigan) also scored in the win.
Jason Robertson (Niagara IceDogs) added four assists for Team USA.
The U.S. continues preliminary round play Saturday when it takes on Sweden in a meeting of undefeated Group B opponents. Puck drop is set for 10:30 p.m. EST.
