USA beats Slovakia at world juniors

Kevin Allen | USA TODAY Sports

Coach Don Lucia said before the World Junior Championships that his American squad needed to have balanced scoring to be successful.

The Americans continue to skillfully master that task, getting goals from six different players to down Slovakia 6-3 in their second game at the WJC in Malmo, Sweden.

"I don't think there is any question is that we are going to have different goal scorers," Lucia said. "We've been able to do that. …We have to have different guys contributing."

The Americans have scored 11 goals in the first two games, and 10 different players have produced those tallies. Captain Riley Barber (Washington Capitals) is the only American with two goals. He has 10 shots on net in two games.

Boston University defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (Boston Bruins) and forward Jack Eichel, a 2015 draft-eligible player, paced the U.S. attack against Slovakia with a goal and an assist.

Ryan Hartman (Chicago Blackhawks), Daniel O'Regan (San Jose Sharks) and Stefan Matteau (New Jersey Devils) also scored for the Americans, who led the game 3-0 early in the second period.

"When I watched Slovakia against Germany, I was really impressed with their team speed," Lucia said. "And we got in trouble turning some pucks over against them tonight. We weren't as steady as we were in our first game."

Undrafted Milan Kolena scored his third goal in two games, and Martin Reway (Montreal Canadiens) added another 1:53 later to pull the Slovaks within a goal in the second period.

"In the course of a tournament, you aren't going to play a perfect game every game and some days you just have to find a way to win," Lucia said. "We were able to play a strong third period and close it out."

Providence College's Jonathan Gillies made 27 saves in his second consecutive start in net for the Americans. He has given up four goals in two games, but only one of those goals has been at even strength.

"We have made mistakes, but they are all correctable mistakes," Lucia said.