Florida Panthers prospect Spencer Knight stopped 26 of 27 shots in USA Blue’s 7-1 rout of Finland yesterday at the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, MI.
Sampo Ranta (Colorado Avalanche) beat Knight late in the first period to pull Finland to within a goal at 2-1. Knight would shake that off and go on to make 21 saves over the final two periods as his teammates scored twice in the second and three times in the third to make it a laugher.
Fellow 2019 Panther draftee, Owen Lindmark finished with one shot on goal and a -1 rating. I don’t expect Lindmark to be on the final U.S. squad once players are cut and the two rosters are combined, but we’ll see.
John Beecher (Boston Bruins) and Joel Farabee (Philadelphia Flyers) each scored twice and Ottawa Senators prospects Shane Pinto and Jon Gruden, and Cam York (Philadelphia Flyers) also lit the lamp for USA Blue. Defenseman Christian Krygier (New York Islanders) racked up three assists.
In the other Sunday game, Sweden edged USA White by a 2-1 count thanks to an overtime goal by Jacob Olofsson (Montreal Canadiens). Sweden’s Marcus Karlberg (Columbus Blue Jackets) (shorthanded) and Arthur Kaliyev (Los Angeles Kings) (power play) traded first period special teams goals. Erik Portillo (Buffalo Sabres) was the winner in goal, finishing with 32 saves. Dustin Wolf (Calgary Flames) stopped 37 of 39 shots for his team.
There are no games scheduled today at the showcase. Action resumes on Tuesday, with the USA taking on Canada at 4 p.m.