GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Michigan forward Rutger McGroarty had a hat trick, Michigan State’s Trey Augustine made 38 saves and the United States defeated Slovakia 10-2 on Sunday in the world junior hockey championship to complete Group B play undefeated.
Michigan’s Gavin Brindley and Michigan State’s Isaac Howard each scored twice and Denver’s Zeev Buium and Boston College teammates Ryan Leonard and Cutter Gauthier added goals.
“I thought we played extremely well overall,” U.S. coach David Carle said. “We’re continuing to build and now we’re on to the next phase with the quarterfinals.”
McGroarty, who was selected 14th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2022 NHL Draft and has six goals and 18 points for the Wolverines this season, will lead the Americans into a matchup vs. Latvia on Tuesday in the quarterfinals. Latvia was fourth in Group A.
Marian Mosko and Filip Mesar scored for Slovakia. It will face Finland in the quarterfinals.
In the other group B finale, the Czech Republic beat Switzerland 4-2. In Group A, Finland beat Sweden 5-4 in a shootout and Canada topped Germany 6-3. Sweden — which shut out its first three group opponents — was first in the group, followed by Canada and Finland.
In the quarterfinals, Sweden will face Switzerland, and Canada will play the Czech Republic.
Jani Nyman tied it for Finland late in regulation and scored the deciding goal in the shootout.
“I don’t know what happened, but we weren’t ready at the start,” Swedish forward Noah Ostlund said. “We don’t make to make excuses. We have to be better next time.”
Boston University star Macklin Celebrini scored twice for Canada.
“One of those games where you just got to keep going,” said the 17-year-old Celebrini, expected to be the top pick in the NHL draft. “We just had to push through … it’s never going to be perfect.”
Jiri Kulich scored the deciding goals for the Czech Republic.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
