Powerhouse top line leads United States back to world juniors final

OTTAWA — Typically, if you have the best line at the world juniors you win the tournament.

The best line in this year’s tournament has been James Hagens, Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault of the United States. In Saturday’s 4-1 semifinal win over Czechia, the Boston College trio was dominant once again and propelled the U.S. to within one victory of defending the gold medal.

Hagens is the silky quick playmaker, Leonard the power forward who gets to wherever he wants to, and Perreault has cerebral vision with beautiful hands.

Against Czechia, they combined for four points, and it started from the jump. 

Less than four minutes into the game, Leonard made a dazzling move around a Czech defender to find Perreault who neatly made a quick backhand move to open the scoring 1-0.

The U.S. would never look back.

The Americans are benefiting from the fact that Hagens, Leonard and Perreault are teammates and linemates at Boston College. However, Leonard and Perreault have years of playing together from their days on the under-18 U.S. National Development team. Perreault believes that familiarity with Leonard creates a sixth sense on the ice.

“Playing with the guy for that long,” said Perreault about playing with Leonard, “it’s kind of easy to know where each other are going to be.”

Last year the duo of Leonard and Perreault played alongside Will Smith — who has graduated to the NHL with the Sharks — on a line that produced 25 total points and led the U.S. to a gold medal. This year, with Hagens swapped for Smith, the line has matched last year’s total combining for 25 points through six games thus far at the world juniors.

Czechia bounced right back thanks to Jakub Stancl scoring off a rocket of a shot to tie the game 1-1 in the first period.

But the U.S. also got secondary scoring to help their top line out. The second power play unit contributed when Cole Eiserman ripped home a shot to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead in the second period.

Every team needs secondary scoring to win, and the U.S. got just enough of it against Czechia. But it was the trio of Hagens-Leonard-Perreault who were everywhere, generating multiple chances in the second period as they have been all tournament.

Their dominance starts with Leonard, who is wearing the captain’s ‘C’ in this tournament.

Leonard showed off his feisty side right off the bat Saturday night, taking a minor penalty for interference 1:01 into the game in a Brady Tkachuk-style manner, shoving a Czech player to the ground. Tkachuk himself was in attendance, likely with a smirk on his face.

But unlike Tkachuk, who is beloved in Ottawa, Leonard is not. He is a heel and a villain who embraces the role and has been doing so all tournament.

In the quarterfinals against Switzerland, Leonard took a puck to the nose that required him to wear a fishbowl helmet. Immediately after the injury occurred, the Canadian fans in attendance booed him for the simple fact that he was American. The Canada-United States rivalry runs deep.

“I liked it,” Leonard said of the booing after the Swiss game. “It made me smile.”

His teammate Cole Hutson spoke to the hatred Leonard evokes, “He’s probably the most hated guy in all of Canada right now.”

The gritty, tenacious Leonard played up to his villain status by sealing the win against Czechia with a tap-in goal late in the third to extend the lead to 3-1.

But even after the win the captain wasn’t satisfied.

“I don’t think we played nearly as good as we should have tonight,” Leonard said. “I guess we’re saving it for tomorrow.”

Leonard should be content with his own performance as he and his linemates were electric every time they stepped on the ice, generating seven shots in total. His goaltender Trey Augustine called him “the man.” Leonard has been a man amongst boys in the tournament.

Meanwhile, the third member of the line, Hagens, didn’t get on the scoresheet against Czechia. But the 18-year-old has four goals and eight points in the tournament so far, keeping him on track to be one of the first players selected in June’s NHL Draft. 

The Americans’ opponent in the gold medal matchup was settled earlier in the day.

In the battle for Nordic supremacy, Finland beat Sweden 4-3 in overtime in a back-and-forth affair. In a frenetic second period, the northern rivals exchanged five goals, and another goal was ruled offside. It looked like Finland was about to lock in a win in the third but an easy shot from Sweden’s Wilhelm Hallquist somehow beat Finnish netminder Petteri Rimpinen to tie the game at 3-3.

However, it was a faux comeback for the Swedes. In overtime, Finland’s Benjamin Rautiainen scored a marvellous no-look goal from close to the goal line on the power play to seal the victory.

Against the U.S., Rautiainen and his Finnish teammates will need their eyes laser-focused on the line of Hagens-Leonard-Perreault if they have any chance of winning. But they’ve shut them down before.

The Finns beat the Americans 4-3 in overtime in the preliminary round. Hagens, Leonard and Perreault combined for zero points in that loss.

If the U.S. does win and defend gold, it will be the first time the country has won back-to-back championships at the world juniors.

“To do something our country’s never done, it’s going to be truly special,” Leonard said.

Regardless of what happens on Sunday, expect the Hagens-Leonard-Perreault line to be in the middle of all the action.