Worlds: Cutting Through the Competition

With one game remaining in the preliminary round of the 2023 IIHF World Championships, Flyers prospect Cutter Gauthier is second among all players in the tournament with six goals scored to date. He is also tied for the tournament plus-minus lead with a plus-nine rating to date.

Gauthier has won Best Player honors for Team USA in back-to-back matches.

In Friday's game against Denmark, Gauthier broke a scoreless deadlock with a power play goal at 9:51 of the third period on the way to a 3-0 win for the Americans. It wasn't just the power play goal that made Gauthier noticeable. He was very active around the puck and finished with a game-high nine shots on goal in 13:45 of ice time.
At 5-on-5, Gauthier skated left wing on a line with Ontario Reign/LA Kings center TJ Tynan and Detroit Red Wings prospect Carter Mazur.,For the second straight game, Flyers/Phantoms defenseman Ronnie Attard was scratched from the lineup in favor of Tyler Kleven.

On Sunday, Team USA trounced France, 9-0, Gauthier had the best offensive game of his young international career to date. The fifth overall pick of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft racked up a hat trick and an assist for a four-point performance.

At 11:34 of the first period, Gauthier received a stretch pass that St. Louis Blues defense prospect Scott Perunovich -- a former Minnesota Duluth teammate of Philadelphia's Cates brothers -- found him with a perfect stretch pass banked off the boards past a defender. Moving from the right side over the middle in a one-on-one against goaltender Sebastian Yloneh, Gauthier wristed a shot through the five hole for a 2-0 lead.

Two shifts later, at the 13:53 mark, Gauthier assisted on a Tynan goal as Team USA built a 3-0 lead that they took to intermission. Gauthier got his stick on the puck as Team France attempted to clear the zone and the puck bounced to Tynan, who went in and scored. It was Gauthier's first helper of the tournament.

At 1:31 of the second period, Gauthier broke the game open and put Team USA, 4-0. Using a defenseman as a partial screen, Gauthier unleashed a quick wrister from the dot. The puck beat relief goaltender Quentin Papillon between the pads.

Neither Gauthier nor the rest of Team was done punishing their overmatched opponents. The Americans piled up five additional goals in the third period. including Drew O'Connor (who opened the scoring in the first period) tallying his second goal of the game.

At 13:48 of the third period, Gauthier completed his hat trick and rounded out the scoring with Team USA's ninth goal of the match. Team USA also had a would-be goal disallowed for a high stick

Attard returned to the Team USA lineup against France, skating 15:22 of ice time and recording two shots on goal. He has dressed in the four of the six games to date and was credited with the game's first goal in Team USA's 3-2 win over Germany in their third match of the round robin.

Team USA is now 6-0-0 in Group A play; just the second time in the history of the men's national team that they've opened the World Championships with six straight victories. While this is not a star-studded American team and tougher competition is ahead (Finland is the only traditional medal contender the Americans have played to date), the work ethic and cohesion of this year's version of Team USA has been impressive.

What's ahead: On Tuesday, Team USA will play Sweden. Barring an unlikely regulation upset of Tre Kronor by Denmark on Monday, the USA vs. Sweden game will be for first place in preliminary round Group A. Single-elimination medal round play begins with the quarterfinals on Thursday.