WJSS: Gauthier Bags Two vs. Sweden

All four squads at the 2023 World Junior Summer Showcase sport identical 1-1-0 records after two days of play. On Wednesday, Team Sweden will face off with traditional archrival Team Finland, while the split Team USA squad -- Team White and Team Blue -- will go head-to-head against one another.

The two American sides started the exhibition tourney in an inauspicious fashion.

USA Blue lost to Sweden in a 7-0 shutout. The Swedes scored twice in the first period, three times in the second and twice again in the third. Flyers 2023 fourth-round pick Cole Knuble centered the second line for the Americans and saw special teams duty as well. Hugo Hävelid recorded a 25-save shutout for the Junior Crowns. Seven different players scored a goal apiece for the Swedes, led by a two-point afternoon from Oskar Pettersson (1g, 1a) and a three-assist performance by Felix Unger Sörem.

USA White got off to a better start against Finland, taking a 1-0 lead to the first intermission. However, a three-goal second period by the Lions turned the tide on the way to a 4-2 victory for the Finns. Flyers 2022 first-round pick Cutter Gauthier stepped over in the latter part of the game but did not get on the scoresheet. Flyers 2022 third-round selection Devin Kaplan had a few strong shifts in the early going of the game, but also did not score.

Winnipeg Jets 2022 first round pick Rutger McGroarty opened the scoring in the game. Top 2024 Draft prospect Cole Eiserman later gave USA White a short-lived 2-1 lead in the middle frame before the Finns struck for three unanswered goals over the remainder of the game. Incoming Michigan State freshman Tommi Männisto tallied a pair of goals for Finland.

On Monday, the tide turned in favor of the two American squads and against the Swedes and Finns.

Team USA bounced back from a pair of ugly losses on Saturday as USA Blue downed Team Finland, 4-1, and USA White hammered Team Sweden, 10-1, in action on Monday.

In the USA White game, Gauthier potted a pair of goals amid a four-goal barrage by the Americans in the third period. His first marker was a snipe from the right wing on a counterattacking rush. The latter was scored from the low middle slot after Gauthier collected the puck amid a scramble in front.

Gauthier, whom the Flyers plan to deploy at center and plays center at Boston College, has been centering for the Americans at the WJSS. He has spent most of his international career with Team USA and, previously, the USNTDP, as a left winger.

Frank Nazar led the way against Finland for USA White with a monstrous four-goal, one-assist game. The eighth overall pick of the 2023 Draft, Boston College bound winger Ryan Leonard, also made a big impact on the game with his aggressive physicality, a goal and an assist to get USA White rolling. Kaplan did not get on the scoresheet.

In the USA Blue game, BC-bound forwards Gabe Perrault (1g, 1a) and Will Smith (2a) helped the squad bounce back from the horrid blowout loss in the opener with a convincing win over the Finns. Knuble did not figure in the scoring.