ST. PAUL, Minn. — Boston Bruins prospect James Hagens scored twice in a 1:03 span late in the second period and early in the third as the United States overcame a two-goal deficit to outlast Slovakia 6-5 on Monday night in the world junior hockey championship.
Hagens, a forward from Hauppauge, New York, who was drafted in June by the Bruins at No. 7 out of Boston College, tied it at 4-4 with 45 seconds left in the second, then gave the Americans the lead 18 seconds into the third.
“It lets us learn about what type of team we have,” Hagens said. “We don’t quit. So to be able to see that out there, how we all battled back and responded, it was good.”
The United States matched Sweden at 3-0 in Group A play ahead of their New Year’s Eve showdown. In the early game, Sweden had four power-play goals in an 8-1 romp over Germany.
“We have to be careful with some things like taking too long shifts or getting stuck on the blue lines,” Swedish captain Jack Berglund said. “Stuff like that can punish us against the U.S. If we have a bad change, bad turnover, they will come with speed. We need to be ready for that.”
TEAM USA VICTORY 🙌#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/Z6v9KehTUf
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) December 30, 2025
Goaltender Caleb Heil, picked by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round of the NHL draft in June, backstopped the U.S. in goal, making 26 saves. He’s from Victoria, Minnesota, and plays for Madison in the USHL. Fellow Minnesotans Brendan McMorrow and Will Zellers scored. McMorrow is from Lakeville and plays at Denver. Zellers, from Maple Grove, plays for North Dakota.
Ryker Lee of Michigan State and AJ Spellacy of Windsor in the OHL added goals. The U.S. played without defenseman Cole Hutson. The Boston University star was injured when he struck by a shot in a victory over Switzerland.
“He’s like lightning in a bottle,” McMorrow said. “He can make something out of nothing, and in a game like that, too, we could have used him. But you know, we’re battling through it and hopefully we’ll get him back soon.”
Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin, a former Team USA forward who won gold at the 1996 World Cup and silver at the 2002 Olympics, was on hand for the victory and greeted the players on the ice after the win.
Tomas Chrenko scored twice for Slovakia in the loss.
Also Monday, in Group B at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Adam Jiricek scored at 3:39 of overtime to give Czechia a 2-1 victory over pool leader Finland.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
