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Team USA Hands Slovakia 7-1 Loss at U17 Challenge

By USA Hockey, 11/03/14, 6:30PM EST

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Clayton Keller Paces Offense with Four-Point Effort

LAMBTON SHORES, Ont. - Clayton Keller (Swansea, Ill.) notched two goals, one on the power play and one shorthanded, and added two assists as the U.S. National Under-17 Team handed Slovakia a 7-1 loss here today at The Shores Recreation Centre. With the win, Team USA improved to 2-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) at the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

The U.S. struck first 2:34 into the opening frame. After halting a Slovak clearing attempt out of the zone, Luke Martin (St. Louis, Mo.) worked the puck from the outside in and put a shot on net. The puck was stopped but Nick Pastujov's (Bradenton, Fla.) second effort beat Slovak netminder David Hrenak for the score. Keller also recorded an assist on the play. Team USA doubled its lead, 2-0, on the power play at 12:51. Keller streaked up the right side and found Max Jones (Rochester, Mich.) across the ice in the left face-off circle. Jones clanged the puck off the pipe and in. Chad Krys (Ridgefield, Conn.) also earned an assist on the goal.

The third U.S. goal came at 8:49 of the second stanza while Team USA was skating shorthanded. Slovakia attempted to gain the zone, but Martin intercepted and sprung Keller with a pass out to center. Keller broke away and tucked the puck between Hrenak's pads with a backhand shot. Slovakia struck back less than two minutes later, but William Lockwood (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) capitalized on a loose puck in front of the Slovak net to restore the three-goal advantage for the U.S. Krys and Michael Campoli (Ann Arbor, Mich.) registered assists on the marker.

Team USA added three power-play tallies in the final frame to seal the victory for the U.S. Keller made it 5-1, banking the puck off the back of Hrenak from behind the net. Patrick Khodorenko (Walnut Creek, Calif.) was then stopped in front of the net, but the opportunity left Pastujov open and he banged in the rebound at 12:06. Kailer Yamamoto (Spokane, Wash.) also assisted on the 5-on-3 strike. Lockwood scored Team USA's seventh goal with just over a minute remaining. Jones and Adam Fox (Jericho, N.Y.) collected assists on the score.

Jake Oettinger (Lakeville, Minn.) stopped 20 shots in the win for Team USA while Hrenak made 30 saves for Slovakia in the loss.

The U.S. National Under-17 Team faces its third game in three days tomorrow (Nov. 4) when they face Canada Red. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST at The Shores Recreation Centre. The contest will be streamed live on FASTHockey.com.

Notes

Clayton Keller ​ was named U.S. Player of the Game … Team USA outshot Slovakia, 37-21 … Team USA went 4-8 on the power play while Slovakia was 0-4 with the man advantage ... The preliminary round and quarterfinals will be streamed live on FASTHockey.com and the official tournament website, which can be found here ... The semifinals, third-place game and championship contest will be broadcast live on TSN ... The 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge includes two groups of four teams. Group A features Canada Black, Canada White, Finland and Russia, while Group B includes Canada Red, Slovakia, Sweden and the United States ... Follow @USANTDP and @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for tournament updates ... Danton Cole (Pontiac, Mich.) is leading the U.S. National Under-17 Team for the third time in the tournament, having previously coached the U.S. to a second-place finish in 2011 and a third-place showing in 2013. Joining Cole on the bench is assistant coach John Gruden (Virginia, Minn.), goaltending coach Kevin Reiter (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and intern assistant coach Tyler Walsh (Lansing, Mich.).

1. Clayton Keller, Team USA

2. Luke Martin, Team USA

3. Chad Krys, Team USA

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