U.S. Men’s National Team Tops Austria, 4-1
Hutson and Perbix each contribute a goal and an assist
TAMPERE, Finland – Lane Hutson (Chicago, Ill.) and Nick Perbix (Elk River, Minn.) each put up a goal and an assist and Cal Petersen (Waterloo, Iowa) made 18 saves to help the U.S. Men’s National Team improve to 4-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) with a 4-1 win over Austria here today in its fourth preliminary round game of the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship.
The first 20 minutes ended scoreless, with Petersen making several great stops in the U.S. net.
The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native – who played collegiately at Boston College – is making his first appearance in an IIHF world championship at any level.
Drew O’Connor (Chatham, N.J.) nearly gave the U.S. the lead 4:30 into the second, going short side on the doorstep, but Austrian netminder Bernhard Starkbaum was equal to the task. Cutter Gauthier (Scottsdale, Ariz.) had a great chance moments later, but again Starkbaum made the save. The U.S. took the lead at 7:16 of the middle frame as Nick Bonino (Unionville, Conn.) wrapped around the back of the net and sent a pass across the crease where Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif.) put it home. Connor Mackey (Tower Lakes, Ill.) also tallied an assist on the play.
Austria tied things up with 2:37 remaining in the period with a goal from the top of the left circle, but Carter Mazur (Jackson, Mich.) answered less than a minute later from the slot. T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) and Hutson each picked up helpers.
Hutson made it 3-1 at the 3:24 mark of the third, starting the play in the U.S. zone and skating through four Austrian players before using a one-handed poke through the five-hole to score his first goal of the tournament. Perbix and Matt Coronato (Greenlawn, N.Y.) each picked up assists.
Austria’s Dominic Zwerger was awarded a penalty shot with 8:43 to play but denied by Petersen.
With 2:45 to play, Austria pulled Starkbaum for an extra attacker, but an empty netter from Perbix just 12 seconds later sealed the U.S. victory with Patrick Brown (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.) earning assists.
The U.S. is back in action Saturday (May 20) against Denmark in their fifth preliminary round game of the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship with puck drop set for 12:20 p.m. local time/5:20 a.m. ET and the game can be seen live on NHL Network.
NOTES: Lane Hutson was named U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. was 0-2 on the power play, while Austria was 1-1 … The U.S. outshot Austria by a 31-19 count … The U.S. has opened a men’s world championship with four straight wins only five times, including this year.