Lukas Zajic (Plainfield, Ill.) nearly put Team USA up early, at 3:23 of the first, but was turned aside, as starting U.S. nerminder Luke Carrithers (Maple Grove, Minn.) made a point-blank save on the other end to keep things even.

Team USA rolled offensively in the opening half of the period as it led in shots, 8-2, as its ninth shot accounted for the first score of the game. Off a Chicago Steel offensive rush, Tyler Martyniuk (Washington Twp., Mich.) sprawled on the ice to deny a cross-ice pass. Mikey Berchild (Minnetonka, Minn.) picked up the loose puck and fed Zajic in the neutral zone who sped across the blue line. Zajic fired a shot on net and found twine past the Steel's starting netminder Louis-Felix Charrois at 10:08.

The U.S. kept things rolling as Parker Trottier (Edina, Minn.) tallied his second of the year 3:22 later. Sammy Nelson (Maple Grove, Minn.) picked up a Casey Mutryn (Norwell, Mass.) deflection and saw Trottier at the crease as he beat Charrois to make it 2-0.

Victor Plante (Hermantown, Minn.) increased the U.S. lead to three at 2:22 of the second on the power play. Dayne Beuker (Portland, Ore.) corralled the puck atop the faceoff circle off a pass from Plante and fed him right back before his shot trickled into the net.

The Steel struggled to get past Team USA's stout defense as it didn't record a shot for the first 6:00 of the middle frame. It's first shot of the period came right in front of the crease but Carrithers turned it aside to stay ahead.

The U.S. kept up the pressure as Beuker lit the lamp at 8:09 of the period. In their defensive zone, Zajic shuffled the puck to Beuker who dashed across the neutral zone, split a pair of Steel defenders and finished past Charrois to make it 4-0.