U17 — USA VS. CZECH REPUBLIC

The U.S. National Under-17 Team faces off against the Czech Republic in its third game of the 2019 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament at noon ET on Friday in Tranås, Sweden.

The U17s hold a 1-0-1-0 record (W-OTW-L-OTL) through their first two games of the tournament, which included a 7-0 win over Finland in the opener.

Despite a goal from Jake Sanderson (Whitefish, Mont.) and a 22-save performance from Drew Commesso (Norwell, Mass.), Team USA fell to Russia by a 3-1 final in its most recent game Wednesday.

Sanderson's power-play tally late in the second period, which tied the score at 1-1, represented the U17s' lone goal of the contest.

Dylan Peterson (Roseville, Calif.), who collected the secondary assist on Sanderson's goal, is tied with Ty Smilanic (Elizabeth, Colo.) for the team-lead in points with four across the first two games of the tournament.

Smilanic added one goal and three assists in Team USA's victory over Finland on Day 1 of the tournament.

The Czech Republic's National Under-17 Team fell to Russia by a 4-1 final in its opening game of the 2019 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament and was idle Wednesday before a 6-3 loss to Finland on Thursday.

The Czechs trailed by just one goal against Finland after 40 minutes, but surrendered four goals in the final frame and dropped their second consecutive game.

Michael Rouha's two points (1-1-2) pace the Czech Republic through two games.

The Czech Republic entered the tournament after it placed seventh at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in November. 

Team USA earned a 5-1 win over the Czech Republic in the group stage at the U17 Hockey Challenge before the Czechs won the rematch 2-1 in the elimination round.

Landon Slaggert (South Bend, Ind.), Hunter Strand (Anchorage, Alaska) and Eamon Powell (Marcellus, N.Y.) delivered multi-point efforts for the U17s in their first encounter with the Czechs.

Michael Gut and Pavel Novak scored goals for the Czech Republic in the head-to-head matchups and are both rostered on the current version of the Czechs' National Under-17 Team.

Tomáš Chlubna, who leads the Czech Republic with 18 points and nine goals across all international competitions, is also rostered for the 2019 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament.

U18 — USA VS. CZECH REPUBLIC

The U.S. National Under-18 Team squares off against the Czech Republic in its third game of the 2019 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament at 7 a.m. ET in Sochi, Russia.

Alex Turcotte (Island Lake, Ill.) scored a pair of goals and Trevor Zegras(Bedford, N.Y.) added a third-period tally as the U.S. National Under-18 Team earned its first victory at the tournament with a 3-2 win over Finland on Thursday.

Turcotte, whose wrist shot from the slot with 4 minutes, 59 seconds to play in the final frame resulted in the game-winner, holds a team-high three goals across the first two games of the tournament.

Turcotte's first goal of the game, which came with less than one second to play in the first period, leveled the score after 20 minutes.

Zegras, who tracked down a loose puck at the edge of the crease before he slotted it into the back of the net, gave the U18s the lead early in the final frame. It marked Zegras' second goal of the tournament.

Finland responded with the extra attacker with 57 seconds to play in regulation, but Team USA staved off the late rush to seal the win.

Spencer Knight (Darien, Conn.)stopped 35 of 37 shots to earn the victory.

The Czech Republic enters the Friday tilt with a 1-2-0 mark across its first three games of the 2019 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament. The Czechs picked up a 6-3 over Finland in their opener before consecutive losses against Russia (5-1) and Sweden (4-3).

The U.S. National Under-18 Team last faced the Czech Republic at the 2018 Under-18 Five Nations Cup in Kravaře, Czech Republic. Team USA won the group-stage match by a 5-2 final.

Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla.), who did not travel with the U18s to Sochi, delivered a five-point effort in the victory over the Czechs in November.Zegras and Cole Caufield (Stevens Point, Wis.) also tallied goals for Team USA.

Cameron Rowe (Wilmette, Ill.) stopped 15 of 17 shots in the win.

The Czechs posted a 2-2 record in Kravaře. Jonáš Peterek and Adam Raška recorded the two goals in the head-to-head matchup against Team USA.

Michal Teplý, who entered the 2019 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament with a team-high 20 points (5-15-20) across all international competitions for the Czechs, delivered a hat trick in a 6-3 win over Finland to kick off the event.

Teplý is ranked 14th among European skaters by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau.

Lukas Rousek (No. 36), Karel Plasek (No. 38) and Adam Najman (No. 39) round out top-50 European skaters for the Czechs, while Lukas Parik holds the No. 4 ranking among European goaltenders.