For anyone who woke up at the crack of dawn to watch the US’s final game of the World Junior preliminary round against Slovakia this morning, they were treated to the big statement win that we’ve been waiting to see from the Americans all tournament. There were a handful of really excellent individual performances in this 10-2 win for the Americans, and Flyers fans will be thrilled to hear the Cutter Gauthier was one of them.
The United States got themselves on the board first in this one, with the first of three from Rutger McGroarty. And while he didn’t pick up an assist on this play, Gauthier was still critical in its inception, as he won the faceoff and kept the Americans’ offensive zone time alive.