This game seemed to highlight my theory as to why it is so important for USA Hockey to hold an international event for non-NTDP players. Skillwise, this was probably a game that the US could have won 5 or 6 to 1, and with a little better finishing, they probably would have. But there is a little different type of pressure and intensity that comes along with international play, which is why instead of cruising to an easy victory, the US found itself up 3-2 late in the third period, with Germany threatening with some very serious scoring chances to tie the game. Some day, a few of these players may find themselves representing the US again, either with the NTDP, or with the U20 and men's national teams. Hopefully learning experiences like this help prepare them for when the US calls in the future.
As for the game itself, the US escaped with a 4-2 win. Shots were pretty heavily in favor of the US team, and like I mentioned, there were a lot of golden opportunities missed, including about four different backdoor passes that forwards weren't able to tip in. Overall, it looked like a very solid group of players for the US. The '95s are looking like a very deep birth year for the US.
As best I could tell, forward lines looked like this: Guertler-Erne-Labosky, Moore-Lettieri-Oglevie, Lodge-Siroky-Turner, Vanderwiel-Eiserman-Schoenborn. On defense, DeAngelo and Downing were always paired together, while the other five D sort of rotated around, though Michael Brodzinski and Willie Raskob made up the second power play unit.
With no NTDPers on the team, it's no surprise that this team relied heavily on the few players that passed on going to the Development Program for other options. The top forward line of Gabe Guertler, Adam Erne, and Dan Labosky, as well as the top defensive pairing of Anthony DeAngelo and Michael Downing were pretty dominant. I'll save full comments on all the US players until after I see them play again. Their next game will be Friday when they take on Slovakia.