WJC update and Hartford back in action
By Steve Paulus
As busy as the New York Rangers were this weekend, so were the prospects in the WJC Tournament in the Czech Republic and the Hartford Wolfpack.
New York Rangers prospects K’Andre Miller and Zac Jones were in action Sunday at the WJC tournament in a key match with Russia. Neither player figured in the scoring, but the United State squad notched a key 3-1 win to take over first place in Group B. It was the fifth straight victory for Team USA over the Russians.
It looked like Zac Jones would be the first to score, but he hit a post early in the second period. It was scoreless until 16 minutes into the second period when Team USA scored twice within six seconds, enough to win the game.
#WorldJuniors: UMass LHD Zac Jones (NYR 3rd/2019) nearly breaks thought but Amir Miftakhov with a last-second toe save. pic.twitter.com/GfTDoktfmH
— Steve Kournianos (@TheDraftAnalyst) December 29, 2019
Arthur Kaliyev scored twice for Team USA with Trevor Zegras adding two more assists. Zegras leads the tournament in scoring, with seven assists. Both players have local connections as Kaliyev (Los Angeles second round pick, #33 ) is from Staten Island and Zegras (Ananeim first round pick, #9) is from Bedford, New York.
As for K’Andre Miller, he played 25 shifts worth 19:24, the third most minutes on team USA. Jones finished minus one on the contest in 15:24 minutes of ice time.
Monday is a very busy day at the tournament with four games on the schedule. All three teams with Rangers prospects are in action. Team USA takes on the hometown Czech Republic, the Swedish team takes on Kazakhstan and Switzerland plays Slovakia. The Team USA match will be televised live at 1pm EST on the NHL Network.