Talk about a thrill a minute. Star forward James Hagens led the way with two goals as the host U.S. fought back to defeat Slovakia 6-5 on Monday. Will Zellers had the eventual winner in the third period – his third of this IIHF World Junior Championship.

"It lets us learn about what type of team we have," said Hagens, the seventh overall pick of the Boston Bruins in 2025. "We don't quit. So to be able to see that out there, how we all battled back and responded, it was good."

The U.S. has won three straight games, setting up a New Year’s Eve battle with Sweden for first place in Group A.

Asked about his expectations versus Sweden, the U.S.'s Brendan McMorrow said: "Obviously a really tight game. They're really good. We watched a little bit of them yesterday on our off-day, and they moved the puck really well, really fast."

This game was as messy as a painting by American artist Jackson Pollock. But it was also an inspirational performance that saw the two-time defending champs digging down deep to find a way.
 

The Americans trailed 2-0, 3-1, and 4-3 before Hagens finally gave them their first lead.

The U.S. played without top defender Cole Hutson, who led the 2025 tournament with 11 points. The Boston University star left the 2-1 win over Switzerland after being struck by a rising shot. In Hutson’s place, Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen slotted back into the lineup, having previously appeared in the 6-3 victory over Germany on Day One, and Hagens wore an “A.” Hutson's absence affected the U.S.'s breakouts and transition game.

"He's like lightning in a bottle,"McMorrow said. "He can make something out of nothing, and in a game like that, too, we could have used him. But you know, we're battling through it and hopefully we'll get him back soon."

McMorrow, AJ Spellacy, and Ryker Lee had the other U.S. goals.

For Slovakia, Tomas Chrenko scored twice to bring his tournament-leading total to five. Captain Tobias Pitka, Adam Belusko, and Michal Svrcek added singles.

U.S. starting goalie Caleb Heil outdueled Slovakia’s Michal Pradel as final shots favoured the Americans 41-31.

"I think we learned that we can play with everybody here," Pitka said. "You know every game is tight here. If we're doing our system, playing our game, we can go far in this tournament."

Slovakia came out hard, stunning the partisan crowd at St. Paul’s Grand Casino Arena. Pitka made it 1-0 at 8:53, taking a drop pass from Tobias Tomik on the rush and beating Heil clearnly over the blocker.

Less than three minutes later, Chrenko doubled Slovakia's lead on the power play, whipping a wrister past Heil from the left faceoff circle. The 18-year-old HK Nitra forward had a hat trick when Slovakia beat Germany 4-1.

"I'm glad that my confidence is higher, and it's getting higher thanks to these goals," Chrenko said. "But without my teammates, I wouldn't be able to score goals."

Just past the 12-minute mark, U.S. forward Teddy Stiga got a breakaway, but – unlike his golden goal against Finland in the 2025 final – he put the puck wide.

The U.S. finally countered with a shorthanded goal at 1:50 of the second period, sending the arena into a towel-waving frenzy. McMorrow blocked Pitka's point shot, busted out of the U.S. zone, and found a streaking Spellacy in front for a one-handed deflection.

Moments later, Stiga had a second breakaway chance, but Pradel denied him.

At 6:46, Belusko restored Slovakia's two-goal lead with another shorthanded marker. A neutral-zone turnover spawned a partial 2-on-1 break, and the Muskegon Lumberjacks blueliner fired a top-corner beauty.

McMorrow replied less than two minutes later, finding a loose puck by the net on a broken play and lofting it home. Once again the building erupted

Just past the midway mark, the Americans thought they had scored a power play goal. However, Pradel managed to grab the rolling puck on the goal line with help from his defence.

At 11:00, there was no doubt about the 3-3 equalizer as Lee sniped it high to the short side.

Undeterred, Slovakia regained the lead at 14:44 on a power play goal. Svrcek backhanded in a loose puck during a goalmouth scrum.

In the last minute of the second period, Hagens made it 4-4 with a quick shot from the high slot.

Just 18 seconds into the third, the Boston College ace pounced on a loose puck and zapped it in for a 5-4 lead as the U.S. goal song, Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird," resounded. The party was on.

Of his two goals, Hagens said: "I'll take them whenever they come! It was cool that they came back-to-back like that. But 'Reider' [Chase Reid] making those plays, Stiga, [Brodie], Ziemer, it was special."

Zellers made it 6-4 at 4:44 on a power-play marker where Ziemer's pass went in off his skate. The play was video-reviewed and Zellers had his team-leading fourth goal.

The Slovaks were incensed after Spellacy threw a high hit on Andrej Fabus in the Slovak zone. But they couldn't convert on the ensuing power play. They pulled their goalie and got within one goal courtesy of Chrenko at 18:06, but no closer.

This was the 23rd all-time meeting between the U.S. and Slovakia in World Junior history. The U.S.’s head-to-head record rises to 17 wins, one tie, and five losses.