Irish left wing Thomas DiPauli, skating for the United States at the World Junior Championships in Malmo, Sweden.

Vince Hinostroza Helps Team USA To 5-1 Win Over Czech Republic In Opening Win At 2014 IIHF World Junior Championships

Dec. 27, 2013

Malmo, Sweden – Notre Dame hockey players Vince Hinostroza (Fr., Bartlett, Ill.) and Thomas DiPauli (So., Woodridge, Ill.) had key roles in Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Czech Republic in the opening game for Team USA at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championships.

The Irish duo combined to close the scoring for Team USA when DiPauli put Hinostroza in on a breakaway against Czech goaltender Daniel Dolejs late in the third period. Hinostroza did the rest as he tucked a backhander over Dolejs’ stick hand and under the crossbar shot at 17:39 of the third period for the final score of 5-1 at Malmo Isstadion.

Defenseman Connor Carrick forced a turnover at the U.S. blue line and moved the puck to DiPauli on the left boards at center ice. The Irish left winger feathered a pass through the middle to Hinostroza who grabbed it just inside the Czech blue line before moving in on goal.

The United States took advantage of a pair of Czech penalties early in the first period to build a 2-0 lead. Miami (OH) center Riley Barber staked the U.S. to a 1-0 lead just 1:21 into the game when his shot from the left corner snuck past Dolejs to open the scoring.

Defenseman Will Butcher from the University of Denver made it 2-0 just 33 seconds later when he one-timed a cross rink pass from Jack Eichel from the right circle past Dolejs on the power play to give the U.S. a two-goal advantage.

Minnesota’s Hudson Fasching (9:23 of the second) made it 3-0 when he banged a rebound past Dolejs and Colorado College’s Jaccob Slavin made it 4-0 at 17:03 of the second with his first of the tournament.

The Czech Republic finally broke through on goaltender Jon Gillies (Providence College) when Michal Plutnar scored on the power play at 5:47 of the third to make it 4-1 before Hinostroza closed out the scoring with his goal at 17:39 for the 5-1 final.

Gillies stopped 23-of-24 shots he faced in the game while the United States peppered Dolejs with 33 shots in the contest and he stopped 28 of them.

Hinostroza took one shot in the game and was +1 for the afternoon. He won 75% of his face offs, as he was six-for-eight in the game. DiPauli had no shots in the game, but picked up the assist on Hinostroza’s goal. He was one-for-two on face offs and was one of just three U.S. players to be +2 in the game. The sophomore left wing was on the ice for Slavin’s goal that made it 4-0.

The U.S. National Junior Team will be back in action Saturday (Dec. 28) when it takes on Slovakia. The puck drops at 7:30 a.m. (ET) and the contest will be broadcast live on NHL Network in the United States with live streaming available at NHL.com.

DiPauli and Hinostroza are the 17th and 18th Notre Dame players to play in the IIHF World Junior Championships. This marks the third consecutive year that the Irish have had at least one player on the team. Mario Lucia (So., Plymouth, Minn.) was a member of the gold-medal winning USA team last year in Ufa, Russia and seniors Stephen Johns (Wampum, Pa.) and T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) played on the 2011-12 team that played in Calgary, Alta.