On the fourth day of the 2026 World Junior Championship, Monday, Dec. 29 USA faced Slovakia in the third game of the preliminary round for both teams. USA was without one of their star players, Cole Hutson, who was injured after taking a puck to the neck in their last game against Switzerland.
Slovakia got the early jump, and it looked like it would be a difficult path for USA until the second period, when they found their momentum. They tied the game up after being down 2-0 and took their first lead of the game at the beginning of the third. They held the lead and took the win 6-5. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways, one from Slovakia and a couple from USA, starting with Slovakia.
Slovakia Came Out Ready
After seeing Slovakia’s first couple of games, it was clear they were going to challenge USA, who’s had their struggles in this tournament. Slovakia came out ready to play, and they forced USA to make multiple mistakes that led to goals. They jumped out to an early lead and looked to be in control the entire first period.
Even when USA scored to open the second period, they kept their calm and scored right back. Every time USA tried to push back, Slovakia took a step forward, at least until late in the second and the third period. However, even when USA mounted their comeback, Slovakia kept playing their game and had a chance to win.
They even had a shorthanded goal and a couple power power-play goals, but they couldn’t quite outscore USA. It was a hard-fought battle until the end from both sides, and it’ll be interesting to see where Slovakia ends up in this tournament.
USA Kept Belief
It was the first time all tournament that USA didn’t get the first goal of the game. While it was a new experience for the team, they were caught off guard for just a short time as they pushed to play their style of game. They kept fighting back one goal at a time until they eventually tied it and took the lead.
When they got that first goal, it breathed new life into the team, and they looked like themselves again, even though they had a long way to go, as Slovakia seemed to be just out of reach. Their energy came back with each goal they scored, and the momentum shift was easy to see.
USA kept finding different ways to score, and once again it was all throughout their lineup, including a couple of players who hadn’t scored yet, like Ryker Lee and James Hagens. They’ll need these contributions to continue if they want to get a win in their next game against Sweden on New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 31.
USA’s Special Teams Bounce Back
After starting the tournament off with a struggling power play in their game against Slovakia, USA found a way to make it produce. They scored twice on the power play, and both goals were critical in getting USA back in the game and able to win. The eventual game winner was scored while on the power play, and it was from Will Zellers, who’s been one of USA’s strongest players.
Apart from their power play success, they were also successful on the penalty kill. They killed off two of their four penalties, which isn’t a great percentage, but it’s better than zero. They also scored while killing off one of those penalties, which is huge, and it was even bigger because it was the first goal of the game for them when they could’ve easily gone down 3-0, and this could’ve had a different outcome.
Related: Guide to the 2026 World Junior Championship
That shorthanded goal changed the energy of the game, and then USA built on it by scoring while on the man advantage as well. Their special teams weren’t the only story of this win, but they played a big part in it, and they’ll need to keep that going if they want to pursue their third gold medal.
It was an entertaining game to watch from start to finish, especially for USA fans who got to see their team fight back from their first deficit and prove they can do so. Both teams have one more game left in the preliminary round, and both games will be on New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 31. Slovakia will face Switzerland, and USA will take on Sweden, and it’ll be interesting to see which teams get the wins they need.
