United States defeats Czech Republic in overtime at World Juniors

Monday is the fifth day of the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held in Ostrava and Trinec, Czech Republic.

Results

United States 4, Czech Republic 3 (OT) -- Cole Caufield scored with 1:46 remaining in overtime for the United States in a Group B game at Ostravar Arena.
Caufield, selected by the Montreal Canadiens with the No. 15 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, finished a give-and-go with teammate Alex Turcotte (Los Angeles Kings) with a one-timer from the slot.

Trevor Zegras (Anaheim Ducks) had two assists for the United States, which finished the preliminary round 2-1-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L). Shane Pinto (Ottawa Senators), Arthur Kaliyev (Los Angeles Kings) and Jack Drury (Carolina Hurricanes) scored. Spencer Knight (Florida Panthers) made 26 saves.
Zegras leads the World Juniors with nine assists, all of which have been primary assists.
The U.S. can finish first in Group B if Canada loses in any way against the Czech Republic on Tuesday (1 p.m. ET, NHLN). Any kind of win by Canada would leave the United States second.
Libor Zabransky (2020 draft eligible) scored two goals for Czech Republic (1-0-1-1) and Petr Cajka (2020 draft eligible) scored. Lukas Parik (Los Angeles Kings) made 39 saves.
Canada 4, Germany 1 --Joel Hofer, a St. Louis Blues draft pick, made 18 saves for Canada in a Group B game at Ostravar Arena in Ostrava.
Nolan Foote (Tampa Bay Lightning), Liam Foudy (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Ty Dellandrea (Dallas Stars) each had a goal and an assist and Calen Addison (Pittsburgh Penguins) scored for Canada (2-0-0-1; W-OTW-OTL-L).
Yannik Valenti (2020 draft eligible) scored for Germany (1-0-0-2). Hendrick Hane (2020 draft eligible) made 22 saves.
Canada played with 11 forwards. Alexis Lafreniere, expected to be the No. 1 pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, missed the game with an
injury to his left knee
, and Joseph Veleno (Detroit Red Wings) was suspended for a head-butting incident against Russia on Saturday.
Sweden 6, Kazakhstan 2 -- Samuel Fagemo (Los Angeles Kings) scored two goals to lead Sweden (2-1-0-0) in a Group A game at Werk Arena in Trinec. Nils Hoglander (Vancouver Canucks) had a goal and an assist and Rasmus Sandin (Toronto Maple Leafs) had two assists.
Maxim Musorov (2020 draft eligible) and Oleg Boiko (2020 draft eligible) scored for Kazakhstan (0-0-0-4) which played its final game of the preliminary round.
Switzerland 7, Slovakia 2 -- Valentin Nussbaumer (Arizona Coyotes) had a goal and three assists for Switzerland (2-0-0-1) in a Group A game at Werk Arena in Trinec. Gillian Kohler (2020 draft eligible) had two goals and an assist and Matthew Verboon (2020 draft eligible) had a goal and two assists.
Martin Fasko-Rudas (2020 draft eligible) and Robert Dzugan (2020 draft eligible) scored for Slovakia (1-0-0-2).

What we learned on Day 5

Zegras dazzles again
United States forward Trevor Zegras had two more assists in the 4-3 overtime win against Czech Republic on Monday, and each was a primary assist.
He set up Arthur Kaliyev's goal sitting on the ice with a stick between his skates 1:20 into the second period, and then had arguably the most impressive pass of the tournament, a spin-o-rama pass through the crease to set up Jack Drury for a backdoor goal at 6:01 of the second.

"That's best assist I've ever gotten in my life," Drury said. "That was like Patrick Kane, that was crazy. He can do special things out there. He's a phenomenal player."
Zegras said he's flattered by the comparison to Kane; the Chicago Blackhawks forward is someone he tries to emulate.
"He was probably my favorite player growing up," Zegras said. "I've probably seen every goal, every assist that guy's had his whole career. So he's definitely a guy I watch a lot."
Zegras, who has nine points, leads the tournament in scoring without scoring a goal, but doesn't seem to mind.
"I don't really know what it's like to score a goal anymore," he said. "Assists are the best thing in the world for me. There's just something about it that I really like."

Hofer hopes he's Canada's answer in goal

Joel Hofer (St. Louis Blues), for now at least, has taken over as Canada's No. 1 goalie. He made 18 saves in a 4-1 win against Germany on Monday after making 20 saves on 22 shots in relief of starter Nicolas Daws (2020 draft eligible) in a 6-0 loss to Russia on Saturday.
"He was lights-out," Canada forward Nolan Foote (Tampa Bay Lightning) said. "He was really good. They had a couple 2-on-1s ... it definitely picks up our bench when you know you know Joel's ready like that."
Goaltending has been an open-ended question for Canada going back to the World Junior Summer Showcase in July, when five goalies were invited but the only one to make the WJC roster was Olivier Rodrigue (Edmonton Oilers), who has been the third goalie and hasn't played in Canada's first three games.
Daws made 28 saves in a 6-4 win against the United States but allowed four goals on 18 shots against Russia and was removed 2:18 into the second period.
Coach Dale Hunter said he hasn't decided who will start against Czech Republic on Tuesday (1 p.m.; NHLN), but Hofer certainly hopes it's him. Starting back-to-back games is nothing new for Hofer, who leads the Western Hockey League with a 1.81 goals-against average and 20 wins with Portland, and his .937 save percentage is second.
"I think going into this year the biggest thing for me was being consistent," Hofer said. "I think it shows there in the WHL and obviously I want to carry that over to here."

Fagemo keeps scoring for Sweden

Samuel Fagemo (Los Angeles Kings) scored Sweden's first two goals for the second straight game and has five goals in three games.
Fagemo is one of an NHL-best nine Kings prospects who began the tournament on WJC rosters. For a team at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, it shines a positive light on the future.
"The entire organization is excited for all our prospects who will be representing their country in this year's World Juniors," Kings general manager Rob Blake said. "It's an honor to compete in this tournament and that's a credit to the hard work they've all put in. We look forward to watching them take another step in their development."

Switzerland succeeds without Gross

Switzerland managed its second win of the preliminary round despite missing top defenseman Nico Gross (New York Rangers) because of an upper-body injury. Gross won't play against Finland on Tuesday but is possible for the medal round.
Winning Group A remains possible for Switzerland, which is third with six points. Three points for a regulation win against Finland combined with a loss in regulation by Sweden against Slovakia (9 a.m. ET, NHLN) would put Switzerland on top.
"The Finns are obviously a good team," Switzerland forward Matthew Verboon (2020 draft eligible) said. "They won it last year. I think even if they're not necessarily the most talented, they always seem to have a great team chemistry together. And obviously they have amazing players on defense and forwards too. It's going to be a tough game for us, but I think winning 7-2 (Monday), it gives you a lot of confidence going in."

Russia forward suspended

Russia forward Nikita Rtishev, a prospect eligible for the 2020 NHL Draft, received a one-game suspension Monday for a head-butting incident against the United States on Sunday.
Rtishev is the second player suspended for head-butting during the tournament. Canada forward Joseph Veleno (Detroit Red Wings) was suspended Monday for an incident on Saturday against Russia.