For anyone who woke up at the crack of dawn to watch the US’s final game of the World Junior preliminary round against Slovakia this morning, they were treated to the big statement win that we’ve been waiting to see from the Americans all tournament. There were a handful of really excellent individual performances in this 10-2 win for the Americans, and Flyers fans will be thrilled to hear the Cutter Gauthier was one of them.
The United States got themselves on the board first in this one, with the first of three from Rutger McGroarty. And while he didn’t pick up an assist on this play, Gauthier was still critical in its inception, as he won the faceoff and kept the Americans’ offensive zone time alive. Easing into things, if you will.
Gauthier’s offensive game continued to pop as the game went on, and he finally got himself on the scoresheet by the time the second period rolled around, and things were really starting to break open for the US. Here, we saw him bringing the puck into the offensive zone on a controlled entry and taking the initial shot on goal. This shot would be rebounded in front for Drew Fortescue to pick up and send over to McGroarty coming down the wing to chip in for his second of the game.
A secondary assist on the board wasn’t enough, though. That line came back in for the third period rolling still, ready to complete the hat trick for McGroarty, and Gauthier was instrumental in this. Again, we saw him being the one to make the entry into the offensive zone, and then it was his no-look pass up to McGroarty from behind the net that ultimately set up the goal.
Gauthier would also go on to get a goal of his own, this one coming on the man-advantage. To this point on the power play, he had been leaning on shots from the right circle, trying to beat goalies from a distance (which we’ve seen him do well in the past, in fairness), but this time, he was rewarded when he got down low into the crease, and was able to chip in the rebound from his own initial shot for his first goal of the tournament.
And just as this was the statement win we had been waiting to see from the whole of the American team, so too was it the statement game we’ve been waiting to see from Gauthier. He’s had a good tournament so far, to be clear. He’s collected a few assists and gotten more than his fair share of looks across his first three games, but there was another gear left for him to hit, and we finally saw him hit it today.
The medal round kicks off on Tuesday, so the timing for this couldn’t be better. He and his teammates will head into the quarterfinal with momentum in droves.
