After a relatively quiet pair of games, Jack Eichel had his coming out party in a 4-3 United States [2-1, six points] win over Sweden [1-1-1, four points] in the IIHF World Championships. The Buffalo Sabres forward had two assists and a handful of gorgeous chances in the United States' most impressive win thus far.
Eichel's second helper of the tournament came in the first period on a gorgeous shot-pass off of Swedish goaltender Viktor Fasth's pad. It would've been difficult for Eichel to slide a pass over to teammate Clayton Keller [Arizona], so the intentional shot into the goaltender's pad was the best option.
Clayton Keller scores after picking up Jack Eichel's rebound. 1-1. #IIHFWorlds #Coyotes #Sabres pic.twitter.com/DZIMiVtLZg
— Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisNHL) May 8, 2017
In the second period, Eichel added his second assist of the game [third assist of the tournament] in a cross-ice backhand feed to Johnny Gaudreau [Calgary]. It was a great breakout from the Gaudreau-Eichel-Lee line who carried the puck from end to end.
It's 3-3 now after some great passing from Anders Lee, Jack Eichel and Johnny Gaudreau. Gaudreau scores his second. #IIHFWorlds #Flames pic.twitter.com/ucLiBLVA8x
— Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisNHL) May 8, 2017
Despite their solid offensive outings, both Gaudreau and Eichel at times struggled in their own zone, most notably in the first period. The duo tightened up as the game went on and were without question two of the biggest impact players for the red, white and blue.
Sabres forward Ryan O'Reilly was kept off the score sheet but it didn't matter as Canada improves to 3-0 with a 6-0 win over Belarus. Coveted free agent defenseman Viktor Antipin registered his first point of the tournament in Russia's 6-3 win over Germany.
Zemgus Girgensons and Latvia will look to remain undefeated on Tuesday against Italy. Eichel and Team U.S.A return to the ice on Wednesday against Italy. O'Reilly and Canada are off until Thursday when they take on France.
ZEMGUS GIRGENSONS! PPG! It's 2-0. assists to Bukarts brothers. pic.twitter.com/6DPQwUoWcf
— Aivis Kalni?š (@A_Kalnins) May 7, 2017
