GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Rutger McGroarty and Ryan Leonard each kissed the sold-out Scandinavian crowd goodbye as the lead grew to three and then four points late in the third period.
With 31 seconds left, bad blood boiled at center ice as 5-foot-9 Canadiens prospect Lane Hutson threw a punch at 6-foot-4 Red Wings prospect Anton Johansson.
It was the culmination of a moment years in the making, and the sigh of relief for the group of American teenagers who made it happen.
For two years, the 2004 U.S. team had been talking about getting revenge on the Swede, who beat goaltender Hugo Havelid and them for the gold medal at the 2022 U-18 World Championship in Germany.
At the time, the Americans outscored the Swedes 51-15, but still lost 6-4. With the stage set Thursday, they promised a different story in their world junior gold medal rematch.
In Gothenburg on Friday, they delivered on that promise, winning 6-2.
In the early days, it seemed as if history would repeat itself.
On the one hand, the combination of Sabers first-round pick Noah Ostlund and Canucks first-round pick Jonathan Reckerimäki created the first few scoring chances of the game. Østlund took a high shot off Lekkerimäki’s rebound, and a few minutes later he scored in a scramble in front of the goal. The line, and then Ostlund again, danced off the rush on the first power play of the game.
On the other side, the crowd, who had been on their feet from the opening showdown, jumped, clapped and sang, shouted “HU-GO!” He scored his first point with 4:37 left in the first period after stopping Islanders prospect Quinn Finley during the break.
But the Americans eventually broke through, with 3:04 left in the first period when Sharks first-round pick Will Smith made a backdoor slap pass to Rangers first-round pick Gabe Perreault. For the first time, the crowd was silenced. Delay penalty.
It was the Jets captain who drew a penalty and scored a secondary assist on a cross-ice pass to Smith, who 24 hours earlier was talking about unfinished business and the mutual hatred between the two teams. It was McGroarty, a first-round pick. .
The second time was again in 2004, this time when Lightning first-rounder Isaac Howard jumped on a breakaway to beat Haverid in five holes after the Swede had been tied with a chip by the Blues’ Otto Stenberg. brought victory. The Americans regain the lead.
Then Howard again, and again in the fifth hole, beat Haverid on a bad angle shot late in the period to extend the American lead to 3-1.
Then McGroarty, who entered the second half of the frame, forced the Hurricanes’ Felix Unger Solm into the game-tying goal on open ice in the offensive zone, before scoring into an empty net.
“Hey, we’re world champions, how much better have we gotten?” McGroarty said after the match, his gold medal hanging around his neck and dripping with sweat. “We knew this was our last chance. We don’t know if we’ll ever wear a USA Hockey jersey again. It’s sad, but at least we’re going to come out on top.”
The win gave USA Hockey its sixth gold medal at the World Juniors, tying it with Finland for the third-most gold medals at the under-20 level.
But it was also more than that.
“That’s sweet. It feels good. It feels really good,” McGraw-Arty said when asked how he felt about revenge. “It’s unrealistic. I mean, who doesn’t like being the villain? The Swedish fans did an incredible job. Probably the best I’ve ever played in my life.” I think it was a fun game.”
A day earlier, co-captain and Flyers first-rounder Cutter Gauthier said, “We only dream of beating them on our home field” after they “robbed the gold medal from our necks.”
They ripped it off.
Hutson said: “Like I said the other day, the boos really help us. It feels like we’ve been playing together for five years, that’s how close this group has become. … To get that revenge… It’s definitely special.”
(Photo: Christinne Muschi/Canadian Press via AP)