Jimmy Snuggerud was the last of the St. Louis Blues prospects standing on the final day of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.
In a highly-anticipated matchup against Otto Stenberg, Theo Lindstein and host Sweden on European ice on Friday, it was the United States that ruled the roost for the first time since 2021, winning the gold medal game, pulling away in the third period with a 6-2 win.
* USA 6, Sweden 2 -- Snuggerud had an assist on an empty-net goal late to seal the win for USA, which carried a 3-2 lead into the third period before pulling away late.
The 23rd overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and University of Minnesota product finished the tournament with eight points (five goals, three assists) in six games, missing one due to illness.
Snuggerud had an assist on Rutger McGroarty's empty-net goal with 3:10 remaining to seal the win for Team USA.
It was a breathtaking game early on, and Stenberg supplied the life the home side needed when he tipped home Sweden's first goal at 2:13 of the second period to cut the USA lead to 2-1.
But USA, leading 3-2 after Sweden scored a power-play goal late in the second, secured the gold scoring early in the third and putting it away with two late goals.
Snuggerud was plus-3 in 16:54 of ice time; Stenberg, who finished the tournament leading all Blues prospects with nine points (five goals, four assists), was a minus-1 in 14:41; and Lindstein, who led all defensemen in scoring with eight points (two goals, six assists), had three shots and was a minus-2 in 17:46.
* Czechia 8, Finland 5 -- The bronze medal matchup may have had just as much hype and anticipation, especially late when Czechia erupted for five third-period goals to stun Finland.
Blues prospect Jakub Stancl (2023, fourth round) helped spark the Czechs' run with a goaland an assist in the matchup, matching Finland and Blues prospect Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (2022, third round), who had two assists in the game.
Kaskimaki had the primary assist on Finland's second goal to make it 2-0 at 7:43 of the first period.
Trailing 2-1 going into the second, Stancl tied it 2-2 at 8:37.
But Kaskimaki helped restore Finland's lead to 3-2 just 15 seconds later.
The game seemed over at 5-2, but Stancl assisted on Czechia's third goal, shorthanded by Ondrej Becher, with 55 seconds remaining in the second to make it 5-3 and give the Czech's the life they needed.
Stancl, who finished the tournament with six points (four goals, two assists), had one shot and was a plus-3 in 16:15, while Kaskimaki, who had two goals and two assists in the tournament for fourth-place Finland, had two shots and was even on the plus-minus in 18:21.
All in all, Blues prospects finished the tournament leading the way with 44 points (22 goals, 22 assists), including Slovakia's Dalibor Dvorsky and Juraj Pekarcik, who were eliminated in the quarterfinal round.
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