SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Brodie Ziemer and Will Zellers each scored in the second period as the United States held off Switzerland 2-1 in preliminary-round play at the World Junior Championship on Saturday night.
Ziemer opened the scoring 1:12 into the second period, snapping a shot past Christian Kirsch to give the Americans a 1-0 lead. James Hagens and Will Horcoff assisted on the play as the United States capitalized on a quick transition chance.
Switzerland answered just over 11 minutes later as Basile Sansonnens tied the score 1-1 at 12:34, beating Nicholas Kempf from distance with a rising shot after Joel Grossniklaus and Lars Steiner set up the play.
Zellers restored the lead for the Americans two minutes later, finishing from a sharp angle near the left baseline on a fast break. Cole McKinney picked up the lone assist on the go-ahead goal, which stood as the winner.
The third period was scoreless as both teams pressed late. Switzerland pulled Kirsch for an extra attacker in the final minutes, and the United States followed suit earlier in the period, but neither side converted.
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The game was briefly halted in the second period, when U.S. defenseman Cole Hutson was stretchered off the ice after taking a puck to the back of the head. He was transported to a local hospital for evaluation and did not return.
Switzerland plays Germany on Tuesday, while the United States faces Slovakia on Monday in the next round of preliminary play.
Canada 2, Latvia 1: Michael Hage scored the winning goal 44 seconds into overtime as Canada pushed past Latvia in a preliminary-round game Saturday night.
Cole Reschny opened the scoring early in the second period, converting during a five-minute major after Martins Klaucans was assessed a game misconduct for an illegal check to the head. Gavin McKenna and Harrison Brunicke assisted on the goal.
The Latvians answered late. With 1:58 remaining in regulation, Rudolfs Berzkalns tied the score 1-1, finishing a play set up by Krisjanis Sarts and Dmitrijs Dilevka after Latvia had been limited to a few opportunities through much of the third period.
A delay-of-game penalty against Roberts Naudins with 52 seconds left in regulation carried into overtime and proved decisive. Hage ended it quickly, taking a pass from McKenna and Zayne Parekh before drilling a slapshot into the net.
Jack Ivankovic stopped 26 shots for Canada. Maurins finished with 35 saves for Latvia, which was outshot in every period but kept the game tight until the end.
Slovakia 4, Germany 1: Tomas Chrenko netted a natural hat trick for Slovakia in the three-goal victory, setting up a date against Team USA.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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