Team USA won the gold medal for the second year in a row at the IIHF World Juniors on Sunday while the New York Islanders bested the Boston Bruins in an overtime thriller.
Nashville Predators prospect Teddy Stiga‘s first and only goal of the World Juniors came at the perfect time as he put one in net to lift the U.S. to their second straight gold medal.
Cole Hutson (Washington Capitals) scored two goals for the U.S. while James Hagens and Brandon Svododa (San Jose Sharks) scored the other two. The good ‘ole red, white, and blue are now 7-2 in World Juniors gold medal matches.
Anders Lee (18) and Bo Horvat (12) scored the two goals for the Islanders while Ryan Pulock (2) scored the other. The Islanders (15-18-7) got out to a 3-1 lead in the second period until the Bruins (20-17-5) closed the gap with a goal by Justin Brazeau (10) to make it 3-2 entering the third.
Despite Lee putting the Islanders up 4-2 to start the third period, the Bruins responded with two goals from David Pastrnak (16) to send it to OT, where Horvat hit the game-winner.
Overtime wins
The Hurricanes took down the Penguins in 5-4 overtime win on Sunday thanks to Sebastian Aho‘s (13) game-winner. Seth Jarvis (11) led the way for the Hurricanes with two goals while Jalen Chatfield (4) scored the other.
The loss now marks two straight in OT for the Penguins as they fall to 17-17-7 on the year while the Hurricanes improve to 24-14-2.
The Maple Leafs took one from the Philadelphia Flyers in their 3-2 overtime victory courtesy of Morgan Rielly‘s (5) game-winner. The Maple Leafs are now on a four-game winning streak, improving to 26-13-2 while the Flyers fall to 17-18-5.
Around the league
The Rangers end their drought of losing five of their last six with a solid 6-2 win over the league’s worst Chicago Blackhawks. New York scored five straight goals between the first and third periods as the team was led by Filip Chytil‘s (10) two-goal night.
The Anaheim Ducks held off the Lightning in a 4-1 win led by Frank Vatrano‘s (11) two goals. Ducks’ goaltender John Gibson had a stellar night with 36 saves as he improved his save percentage to .914.