TORONTO — Team USA goaltender Joseph Woll, perhaps, got a glimpse of his future on Wednesday night.
The Maple Leafs’ 2016 third-round pick made 18 saves in his first career appearance at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, leading the American squad to a 5-2 victory over Slovakia.
"I think any game in the world juniors is a special experience with the atmosphere and everything you’re representing," said Woll. "Especially being able to play that (game) at the Air Canada Centre and have that first experience playing here is something I’ll never forget.
"Just thinking one day I could be walking in this building later on really gives me something to work towards."
Tage Thompson, a St. Louis Blues draft pick, scored the game winner 2:03 into the second period, picking up a Jack Roslovic feed and using a nice deke to get around Matej Tomek for his first of the tournament.
With the win, the U.S. (2-0-0) moves into a tie with Canada atop the Group B standings with six points apiece. The two nations meet on Saturday to conclude the preliminary round.
Tanner Laczynski, Colin White, Charlie McAvoy and Troy Terry had the other Team USA goals. Roslovic, a Winnipeg Jets prospect, and Dallas Stars draft pick Joseph Cecconi each had two assists in the win.
"Not only do the two wins help, but the two games help to take in our game, take in what we can do better, take in what we can do in every zone — that way we can be strong and confident heading into these next two hard battles," Roslovic said.
Martin Fehervary and Michal Roman had the goals for the Slovaks (0-2-0) while Tomek, a Flyers prospect, made 45 saves in the loss.
Slovakia, which had just six shots on goal in Tuesday’s 5-0 loss to Canada, had 12 shots on goal in the first 20 minutes against the Americans.
Despite generating more shots, the second period remains an area of concern for the Slovaks. They were outshot 19-2 by the Americans a night after the Canadians outshot them 17-1 in the middle period.
"We had a better game with Canada yesterday, but six shots is so bad for us," said Slovakian forward Radovan Bondra, who plays for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants. "Again tonight, we had more shots, but we had a lousy second period yesterday and today so first of all we have to start working on our second periods.
"I think we are a little bit nervous when we get the puck in the defensive zone or the neutral zone and then we lose the puck."
Woll, who is in the school of business at Boston College, admitted the second period where he faced just two shots was difficult.
"Try to keep my mind clear, honestly, not really focused on too much," he said. "Trying not to fall asleep back there, keep my body engaged and just kind of keep my body focused on the next shot."
The 18-year-old Dardenne Prairie, Mo., native says he doesn’t hear from the Leafs brass often, but feels the club’s support.
"They’re really just kind of letting me relax, letting me play my game and really just focus on Boston College," said Woll. "They’re really doing a good job supporting me through everything and kind of leaving me alone and let me play my game and giving (me) advice and stuff like that along the way."
Note: Goaltender Tyler Parsons will get the start for Team USA on Thursday when they face Russia. Parsons, a Calgary Flames prospect, made 11 saves in the Americans’ 6-1 win over Latvia on Monday.
