USA vs. Slovakia live score, highlights, updates from 2023 World Juniors

Posted on by Rebeca Muirne

In a tournament already with its fair share of upsets, Slovakia joined the party on Wednesday, defeating the United States 6-3. 

The Slovaks scored three goals in a span of 3:19 in the second period to flip the script in the game and take a 4-2 lead. The United States could not complete the comeback, failing to cut the lead down from multiple goals. 

Slovakia got goals from six different skaters and received a 33-save effort from Adam Gajan in net. Tyler Boucher led the USA offense with two goals, while Kaidan Mbereko struggled in his 2023 debut, making 20 saves on 25 shots. 

MORE: Watch the 2023 World Juniors live with fuboTV (free trial, U.S. only)

It was another average effort from the USA, who beat Latvia after a slow start. The team sits in the middle of the pack in Group B. The USA has a quick turnaround with a date against Switzerland on Thursday. 

The Sporting News provided live updates and highlights from the USA-Slovakia matchup at the 2023 World Junior Championship.

MORE: Team USA roster, schedule for 2023 World Juniors

USA vs. Slovakia score

  1 2 3 OT F
USA 2 0 1 — 3
Slovakia 1 3 2 — 6

USA vs. Slovakia live updates, highlights from 2023 World Juniors

(All times Eastern.)

Final: Slovakia 6, USA 3

6:40 p.m. — Slovakia holds on for the 6-3 win. The lapse in the second by the USA proved costly, as Slovakia used it to score three goals in 3:19. Two very average efforts so far by the Americans at the tournament. It makes the USA-Switzerland matchup tomorrow even more interesting. 

6:37 p.m. — Scrum with 3.6 seconds left is going to result in some penalties. 

6:34 p.m. — GOAL! That should do it, as Ciernik fires it from his own zone into the empty USA net. 6-3 with 1:07 left. 

6:33 p.m. — Great feed through the crease form Blake to McGroarty at the back door, but he whiffs on the shot. He was staring at a wide open cage. 

6:31 p.m. — Gajan stays in. We’ll see if that impacts him the rest of the way. 

6:30 p.m. — Gajan appears shaken up after stopping a shot with his shoulder. He’s favoring that left shoulder and the trainer is coming out to check on him. 

6:29 p.m. — With over three minutes left, Pecknold pulls Mbereko again. 6 on 5 for the USA down two. 

6:26 p.m. — GOAL! Pecknold pulls the goalie on the man advantage and it works. Boucher gets his second of the day, sitting wide open at the back door for an easy tap-in goal. The Slovak lead is cut down to two with more than 4:30 left. 

6:24 p.m. — Big chance here for the USA, as Petrovsky is called for delay of game. The Americans’ first goal came on on the power play. 

6:23 p.m. — USA gives up another breakaway with Alex Ciernik cherry-picking behind the USA defense, but great backcheck by Luke Mittelstadt to poke the puck off his stick. 

6:18 p.m. — Puck luck hasn’t been on the USA’s side as they had two good chances before the Repcik tally. But credit to Slovakia, who have not taken the foot off the gas in the third, even with the lead. We’ll see if that changes now with it 5-2. 

6:15 p.m. — GOAL! Mbereko can only make so many saves. Slovakia keeps pushing and Peter Repcik gets his third of the tournament. He beats Hughes in a foot race for the puck, gets a shot on a mini-breakaway, Mbereko makes the save but it bounces off Hughes and goes in. It’s a three-goal lead now for Slovakia with just over nine minutes left. 

6:13 p.m. — Another sensational save by Mbereko, this time on a breakaway attempt from Adam Zlinka. He stayed with the forward as he tried to go beat him wide. 

6:11 p.m. — Mbereko steps up with back-to-back stops from his right side. The second one was a beautiful glove save on Alex Sotek, who had time and space alone at the dot. 

6:06 p.m. — Great save by Cajan on a Chaz Lucius wrister. Hughes feed him from the far point to the low dot, but Gajan was able to slide across and cut down Lucius’ angle. 

6:03 p.m. — Massive kill by the Americans, who do not allow a goal on the five-minute major. Slovakia did not generate anything on the back half of that power play. 

5:59 p.m. — Final 20 minutes is a go. Big kill needed here for the USA. Two goals is doable, but if they fall down by three, that’s going to be very difficult. 

End of second period: Slovakia 4, USA 2

5:42 p.m. — Three unanswered goals by Slovakia in the second flips the script and gives them a 4-2 lead heading into the final period. The Americans got punched in the mouth and never adjusted, and the Connors major did not help. Slovakia will start the third with more than two minutes left on the five-minute power play. It’s going to be crucial for the U.S. to keep it a two-goal game by killing the rest of the major and get back to even strength. 

5:37 p.m. — Five and a game for boarding assessed to Connors. A really poorly timed penalty by Connors with the USA already down multiple goals. Slovakia will be on the power play for the rest of the second and will have another 2:34 on the man advantage to start the third. 

5:35 p.m. — Bad hit behind the play by Kenny Connors on David Natny. Violently thrusts the Slovak defender into the boards a good couple of seconds after he got rid of the puck. Officials are going to review it. 

5:34 p.m. — Logan Cooley has been the USA’s best player by far this period. He’s created two chances on his own by using his speed to get by the Slovak defenders, but don’t believe he got a shot off on either attempt when in all alone on Gajan. 

5:27 p.m. — GOAL! Another goal for Slovakia, this time it’s Mesar. His shot from the circle tips off the stick of Charlie Stramel and there’s no chance for Mbereko to make the stop. Three goals in 3:19 and Slovakia has come from down 2-1 to leading 4-2 here in the second. 

5:25 p.m. — GOAL! Robert Baco gives Slovakia the lead with a short-side goal on Mbereko. Baco comes rushing in from his own zone after a clean breakout by Slovakia and gets the USA goalie over the left shoulder. 3-2 Slovakia, two goals less than two minutes apart. 

5:20 p.m. — GOAL! Dalibor Dvorsky comes through on the man advantage for Slovakia to tie the game. The 2023 draft prospect rips a shot over the blocker of Mbereko from the slot with an excellent screen in front by Adam Sykora. Under 10 minutes left in the middle frame, and it’s 2-2. 

5:18 p.m. — Petrovsky draws a hooking penalty on Hutson and Slovakia goes to the power play for the second time tonight. 

5:16 p.m. — Slovakia with their best chance of the period. Filip Mesar threads the needle on a saucer pass to a cutting Servac Petrovsky who gets off a backhand attempt, but a great stop by Mbereko. 

5:13 p.m. — Much more even pace to this period than in the first. Both Slovakia and the United States pushing play off the rush. Not a ton of extended offensive zone time for either side, lots of back-and-forth. 

5:06 p.m. — Slovakia kills off the rest of the Nemec penalty, back to even strength. 

5:03 p.m. — USA begins the second with just over a minute of time left on the power play. 

End of first period: USA 2, Slovakia 1

4:45 p.m. — After a goal-filled first five minutes, the two teams settle down and the USA leads 2-1 after the first. The Slovak goal early woke up the Americans and they controlled the game from then on. The U.S. will start the second period with 1:12 left on the man advantage. 

4:44 p.m. — Now the USA goes back to the power play moments after killing off the Snuggerud trip. Simon Nemec is called for a trip of his own. 

4:43 p.m. — A very structured penalty kill on display by the U.S. as Slovakia does not convert on the man advantage. 

4:40 p.m. — Slovakia goes to their first power play as Jimmy Snuggerud sits for two minutes for tripping. 

4:37 p.m. — The U.S. has Slovakia playing reserved. You can tell the Americans’ speed is a concern for the Slovaks. They are willing to sit back and play conservative rather than get caught up ice in the transition game. 

4:31 p.m. — Not the cleanest last couple of minutes by the U.S. in their own zone, as multiple turnovers allowed Slovakia to keep the puck in. But no high-danger scoring chance allowed. 

4:24 p.m. — The USA are buzzing now. They almost scored again in the shift after the Brindley goal, but the whistle finally blows after a good five seconds of whacking at loose puck in the crease with Gajan on his back. 

4:23 p.m. — GOAL! Gavin Brindley showcases an excellent hand-eye coordination and tips a Lane Hutson shot over the shoulder of Gajan. Nothing the Slovak goalie could do. The United States get their first lead of the game with 13:12 left in the period. 

4:22 p.m. — Great pressure by the second PP unit for the USA. Jackson Blake had a chance with Gajan down and out, but hit the outside of the net. You could argue that to start this tournament, the second group has been better than USA’s top PP unit. 

4:19 p.m. — Confirmed good goal. It was a Slovak defender that knocked Boucher into Gajan. 1-1 game early on. Because of the failed challenge, Slovakia gets a penalty and the USA are going back on the power play. 

4:17 p.m. — Slovakia is challenging the play for goalie interference. 

4:16 p.m. — GOAL! Just seconds into the man advantage and Tyler Boucher scores off a rebound. Slick pass by Cutter Gauthier to Rutger McGroarty in the slot, who deflected it on net and Boucher slammed home the loose puck. Tie game with 15:18 left. 

4:15 p.m. — USA gets a power play chance less than five minutes into the game as Alex Ciernik is called for hooking. The United States were 0 for 2 on the PP against Latvia. 

4:11 p.m. — GOAL! Slovakia gets the scoring going first as Libor Nemec putts his third attempt home. His first two shots were blocked, but his third whack at the puck goes through the five-hole of Mbereko. 1-0 Slovakia just over two minutes into the game. 

4:08 p.m. — Puck is down and the USA-Slovakia matchup is underway. 

Pregame

3:20 p.m. — Lines for Slovakia against the U.S. Adam Gajan gets the start in net after being the odd goalie out in the game against Finland. Both Patrik Andrisik and Matej Marinov saw action in the opener. 

3 p.m. — United States rolling out the same forward lines and defensive pairings as they did against Latvia. Kaiden Mbereko, who was the starter in the summer games, is expected to get his first of the tournament after Trey Augustine played in the opener. 

What channel is USA vs. Slovakia on today?

  • United States: NHL Network
  • Canada: TSN 1/5

TSN has all the World Juniors action in Canada, while in the United States, viewers can find the games on NHL Network.

Stephen Nelson will provide play-by-play coverage for NHL Network. He will be joined by analyst Dave Starman and reporter Jon Rosen on the broadcasts. 

Dennis Beyak and Craig Button will be on the call for the USA games for TSN. Laura Diakun and Dave Reid will be in the studio.

How to live stream World Juniors hockey games

U.S. fans can stream the tournament on fuboTV (which comes with a free trial), NHL.tv or the NHL app.

Fans in Canada can stream all World Juniors games on TSN.ca or the TSN app.

USA vs. Slovakia start time

  • Start time: 4 p.m. ET (5 p.m. AST)

The puck will drop at 4 p.m. ET from the Avenir Centre in Moncton, N.B., home of the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats. 

MORE: Team USA 2023 World Juniors roster, results

It is the second game of the tournament for both teams and the first World Juniors game on Wednesday. 

USA vs. Slovakia odds

  • USA: -2.5 (-159)
  • Slovakia: +2.5 (+114)
  • O/U: 6.5

The USA opened as 2.5-goal favorites on the puck line for their game against Slovakia, according to Sports Interaction. 

USA World Juniors schedule 2023

(All times Eastern)

Date Opponent Result Time (ET) TV Info
Dec. 26 Latvia W, 5-2 4 p.m.  TSN, NHLN
Dec. 28 Slovakia — 4 p.m.  TSN, NHLN
Dec. 29 Switzerland — 4 p.m.  TSN, NHLN
Dec. 31 Finland — 4 p.m. TSN, NHLN
Jan. 2 TBD (Quarterfinals) — TBD  TSN, NHLN
Jan. 4 TBD (Semifinals) — TBD  TSN, NHLN
Jan. 5 TBD (Gold-Medal Game) — TBD  TSN, NHLN
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