We played a great game, as did their goalkeeper, praised his team Zegras after a clear win over France

The USA took on France in its fourth appearance at the 2024 World Cup in the Czech Republic, winning 5-0. The match was very important for the overseas team, as they had only gained 4 points, which was the same as France. The obligatory victory put the Americans back in a position to guarantee their qualification to the quarter-finals.

Published

5 months ago

17. 5. 2024

Jiří Holovský

usa hokej, spojené státy americké, amerika — Zdroj: Depositphotos

The USA took on France in its fourth appearance at the 2024 World Cup in the Czech Republic, winning 5-0. The match was very important for the overseas team as they had only gained 4 points, which was the same as France. The obligatory victory put the Americans back in a position to guarantee their qualification to the quarter-finals.

The coach of the American national team, John Hynes, made only cosmetic changes in the third and fourth lines after the defeat in overtime against Slovakia. He kept the elite attacking lineup the same as in the previous tournament and it paid off.

In the first period, the USA’s elite attack scored 4 goals and the fate of the game was almost decided. Minnesota forward Matthew Boldy, 23, scored twice and added an assist. His teammates Johnny Gaudreau and Brock Nelson also scored two and three points, respectively.

Zegras praised the French goalie

“We played a fantastic game, but so did their goalie,” the Anaheim forward and teammate of Lukas Dostal began his post-game interview.

“We had 54 shots and scored only 5 goals, which is a huge credit to the French goalie. He was just unbelievable. We went into the game with the same points as them, so we are not better. We had a great start and that made the difference”, Zegras added.

The 26-year-old Frenchman was substituted after the second period with a 97.3% success rate. In the third period, Julian Junca came into the net with 14 saves.

“We didn’t start the way we wanted and we got early goals”, shook his head Kevin Bozon. The French forward started in the first line and even he couldn’t believe that France scored 4 goals in the opening period.

“After the first period the game was over, but we wanted to play like it wasn’t. Without the puck we improved in the rest of the game, but we have to play more with it. We played against the best players in the world, we can bounce back from that,” added the French forward.

Source: IIHF, 2024 World Championship