MALMO, Sweden - Seven players scored and the U.S. National Junior Team converted on six power plays en route to an 8-0 win against Germany in preliminary round action at the 2014 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship here today.



Vince Hinostroza (Bartlett, Ill./University of Notre Dame) tallied two goals and two assists and Matt Grzelcyk (Charlestown, Mass./Boston University) scored once and posted two assists as Team USA locked up a spot in the playoff round.



"For the most part, we played the game the right way," said Don Lucia, head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. "We didn't get sloppy. We had a lot of puck possession time and we were unselfish with it."

Hudson Fasching (Burnsville, Minn./University of Minnesota) and Nic Kerdiles (Irvine, Calif./University of Wisconsin) gave the U.S. a 2-0 advantage after the first period.

Team USA connected for four power-play markers in the second frame to open a commanding 6-0 lead. Will Butcher (Sun Prairie, Wis./University of Denver) made it 3-0 when he took a pass at the point and sent a shot through traffic and past German goaltender Patrick Klein at 2:21. Then, just 1:06 later, Hinostroza pushed the score to 4-0 when he placed a shot off the crossbar and in from the left dot. Riley Barber (Pittsburgh, Pa./Miami University) and Grzelcyk found the back of the net after the midway point of the period.

Steve Santini (Mahopac, N.Y./Boston College) notched a power-play score of his own in the third period, and Hinostroza capped the scoring with 6:14 remaining in the contest.

U.S. goaltender Anthony Stolarz (Edison, N.J.) made his first start of the tournament and turned aside all 15 shots he faced.

The U.S. National Junior Team will conclude its Group A schedule Tuesday (Dec. 31) when it squares off against Canada at 11:30 a.m. ET. The contest can be viewed live on NHL Network and NHL.com.

NOTES: Hudson Fasching was named the U.S. Player of the Game ... The U.S. has medaled in three of the last four IIHF World Junior Championships, including gold in 2013 and 2010 and bronze in 2011 ... Don Lucia (Plymouth, Minn.), head coach of the University of Minnesota men's ice hockey team, is the head coach of the 2014 U.S. National Junior Team. Bob Motzko (St. Cloud, Minn.), head coach of the St. Cloud State University men's ice hockey team, Greg Brown (Scituate, Mass.), associate head coach of the Boston College men's ice hockey team, and David Lassonde (Denver, Colo.), assistant coach of the University of Denver men's ice hockey team, are the assistant coaches. Dan Muse (Clinton, Conn.), assistant coach of Yale University's men's ice hockey team, is serving as the team's video coordinator... Jim Johannson (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey operations, is serving as the general manager of Team USA for the fifth consecutive year ... Don Waddell (Detroit, Mich.), an international consultant to USA Hockey, is assisting with player identification for Team USA ... The U.S. is competing in a group with Canada, Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship.