Dustin Wolf backstops America to victory over Germany

Every year, the German national junior team puts a scare into an established hockey power. Yet every year, the Germans are taken lightly in their first couple games. The Germans caught the United States on their heels a bit on Friday morning, but the Americans rallied for a 6-3 victory over Germany.

Playing their second game in 48 hours, the USA turned to backup goaltender (and Calgary Flames prospect) Dustin Wolf in net.

The bad news is that Wolf gave up the first goal of the game and was beaten three times by Germany overall. But let’s look at the three shots that he didn’t stop.

The first goal was a power play marker for Germany off a nice pass and a nice shot. Wolf tried to cover the bottom of the net, so Peterka had to shelf it.

This one is a bit on the defender. The rebound bounced out and the American defender couldn’t box Peterka out for the rebound. Wolf just couldn’t pounce on the puck with Peterka mucking about.

This one’s just a defensive lapse and a heck of a shot from first round pick Dominik Bokk on the two-on-one.

The United States got goals from Jordan Harris, Zac Jones, Shane Pinto, Curtis Hall, Oliver Wahlstrom and Bobby Brink in the win. Trevor Zegras had four assists.

Overall, Wolf made 17 saves including a few really nice ones.

The United States is now 1-1-0 in round robin. They’re back in action on Sunday and Monday. They face Russia and the Czech Republic to finish off the round robin. It’s probably reasonable to presume that Spencer Knight plays against Russia and Wolf gets another start against the Czechs, but we’ll await confirmation on the goalie plans from USA Hockey.