(St. Paul, MN) — Team U-S-A rallied to beat Slovakia 6-5 on Monday night in a preliminary round match up in the 2026 World Junior Hockey Championships. The Americans trailed 2-0 after the first period and were down 3-1 and 4-3 in the second. But James Hagens scored twice, including :18 seconds into the third to give U-S-A their first lead, and they held on the victory. The moves Team U-S-A to 3-0 which sets up for a battle of the unbeatens on New Years Even when they face an also undefeated Sweden at 5 P-M at Grand Casino Arena.
Zach Halverson on KFAN with the call of Will Zellers power play goal to put Team USA up 6-4 in the 3rd period:
Here are the results from Monday and the schedule for the rest of the preliminary round:
Monday, Dec 29
USA 6, Slovakia 5 – FINAL
Sweden 8, Germany 1 – FINAL
Czechia 2, Finland 1 – FINAL, OT
Canada, Denmark – FINAL
Tuesday, Dec 30
Switzerland vs Germany, 1 P-M @ Grand Casino Arena
Latvia vs Denmark, 3:30 P-M @ 3-M Arena at Marriucci
Wednesday, Dec 31
Switzerland vs Slovakia, noon @ Grand Casino Arena
Czechia vs Latvia, 2:30 P-M @ 3-M Arena at Marriucci
USA vs Sweden, 5 P-M @ Grand Casino Arena
Canada vs Finland, 7:30 P-M @ 3-M Arena at Marriucci
