NINE IS FINE: For the second time in a three-game stretch, the Under-18 Team potted nine goals Friday evening in its 9-8 shootout win over the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Cutter Gauthier (Scottsdale, Ariz.) led the way with a hat-trick while Rutger McGroarty (Lincoln, Neb.) added four points with a pair of goals, including a shorthanded tally late in the game, and a couple of assists. 

The U18s erased three separate multi-goal deficits to come back and eventually win the game in a shootout when Isaac Howard (Hudson, Wis.) scored the lone goal in the skills competition. 

The game came after a 9-4 win over the Madison Capitols in the U18s' previous USHL contest back on January 22 at USA Hockey Arena. In that game, Frank Nazar III (Mount Clemens, Mich.) led the team with a goal and three assists for four total points while Charlie Stramel (Rosemount, Minn.) picked up his first career NTDP hat-trick with his first three goals of the season. 

The Under-18 Team is an astounding 22-0-0-1 (W-L-OTL-SOL) on the season when recording at least four goals scored in a game. 

MUSS CAUSES FUSS: U17 goaltender Carsen Musser (Sherburn, Minn.) picked up his first career NTDP shutout in the team's 7-0 win over the NAHL Top Prospects Tuesday afternoon in Pennsylvania.

Musser saw a season-high 39 shots on net and turned aside every single one of them to extend his record to 5-4-0 on the campaign. In 14 games played on the season, including an NCAA win over the  Buffalo State Bengals with the U18 squad, the 6-foot-3 netminder has posted a 3.07 goals-against and .902 save percentage.

DIRTY THIRTY: The U.S. National Under-17 Team recorded 35 and 39 shots on net, respectively, in the team's pair of games at the NAHL Top Prospects tournament earlier this week.

After winning both of them, the U17s bettered their record to 8-4-0 on the season when eclipsing the 30-shot plateau, compared to a 5-14-2 record when not hitting that mark.

The team is also an impressive 7-1-0 when recording at least as many shots as their opponent, while picking up only five wins in 24 games when being outshot by their counterparts. 

HAT TOSS: U18 forward Cutter Gauthier (Scottsdale, Ariz.) picked up a hat-trick in last weekend's win over Muskegon, his second of the season after completing the feat against Augsburg University back on December 29.

On the season, Gauthier leads all NTDP skaters with 23 goals and is sixth on the U18s with 35 total points. The future Boston College Eagle has recorded four multi-goal games on the season after collecting five during the 2020-21 season.

FORWARD OF THE WEEK: U18 forward Rutger McGroarty (Lincoln, Neb.) was named the USHL's Forward of the Week for Week 19 after picking up two goals and two assists for four total points in his only game played. 

The weekly honor was McGroarty's first of the season, but second of his career after winning it in Week 14 of the 2020-21 season.

The 6-foot-1, 204-pound forward has recorded 11 points (6g-5a) in 12 USHL games this season and 38 points (18g-20a) in 31 overall games for the Under-18 Team.

McGroarty figures to be a first-round selection in the upcoming 2022 NHL Draft as he was ranked 18th among North American Skaters in the NHL Central Scouting's Midseason Rankings after beign listed as a B-ranked skater on teh service's preliminary list.

The University of Michigan commit skated in the 2022 BioSteel All-American Game and was named the game's MVP after recording a multi-point night, including a late third-period tally to tie the game.

CAMPUS BOUND: The Under-17 Team had a pair of players commit to their future NCAA teams over their past week in forward Oliver Moore (Mounds View, Minn.) and defenseman Zeev Buium (San Diego, Calif.). 

Moore will return to his home state to play his college hockey at the University of Minnesota. He became the first U17 player to commit to the school after the Golden Gophers landed a trio from the U18 group in natives Ryan Chesley (Mahtomedi, Minn.), Cruz Lucius (Grant, Minn.) and Jimmy Snuggerud (Chaska, Minn.). Moore is the U17s' second leading goal scorer with 17 and third leading point-getter with 31 total points on the year. 

Buium, a left-shot defenseman, committed to the NCHC and the University of Denver Pioneers. The California native is the lone current NTDP skater there, but will join Sean Behrens and Jack Devine from last season's team.

Buium will also team up with his older brother, Shai, currently a freshmen at Denver and a 2021 2nd-round draft choice of the Detroit Red Wings.