It’s been a tough couple days for Germany at the 2013 World Junior Hockey Championship. After losing to 9-3 to the Canadians in their tournament opener on Wednesday, the Germans returned to the rink on Thursday and were handed an 8-0 loss at the hands of the United States.
WJC 2013, USA vs. Germany recap: Americans roll, 8-0
Victory was never in doubt as the USA opened the 2013 WJC with an 8-0 win over Germany
Bruce Bennett
Eight different scorers put the puck in the net for the Americans while John Gibson and Jon Gillies combined for the shutout. Gibson made 19 saves in the first two periods before Gillies came on in relief to start the third period. Team USA peppered German goaltender Marvin Cupper with 46 shots in the game. Defenseman Seth Jones, who’s expected to be an early selection in the 2013 NHL Draft, threw six shots on net to lead all skaters.
The Americans dominated possession and puck control, won 67 percent of faceoffs and made the German defense look silly on a regular basis throughout the game. Germany didn’t even have a shot on goal until there were six minutes remaining in the first period, and the only real threats to the Gibson/Gillies shutout came in the third period when the USA got a bit undisciplined in its game, taking several penalties.
The USA victory was never in doubt, though, even from the opening puck drop. Germany is just hoping for a win at this tournament to avoid relegation and has no true medal hopes, so the first true test for the Americans will come later in the preliminary round.
The United States is back in action Friday morning at 9 a.m. ET when they face off against host nation Russia, another gold medal hopeful. That game will be broadcast live on NHL Network, TSN and NHL.com. Germany continues Group B play on Saturday morning against Russia.
Stick with SBNation.com’s 2013 WJC hub for full coverage of the tournament. Follow our international hockey expert Bruce Peter on Twitter @puckworlds for further coverage of all the action.
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