Team USA hockey suffered a major scare when defenseman Cole Hutson was struck by a puck in a World Juniors Championships game against Switzlerland.

While Team USA returns nine from the squad that won gold at the 2025 World Junior Championship, there are 16 who want to erase the memory of losing to Canada at the 2024 U18 World Championship.

The United States is now 3-0 in the World Juniors after a crazy 6-5 win over Slovakia on Monday night. Team USA was down 2-0 and 3-1, and rallied to win 6-5 thanks to another great game from Will Zellers. He notched the game-winning goal to improve Team USA's record to 3-0 in group play. The U.S. will end group play against Sweden on Wednesday.

Alternate captain James Hagens scored the tying goal with 45 seconds left in the second period and the go-ahead goal 18 seconds into the third as the United States improved to 3-0 with a 6-5 win over Slovakia on Dec. 29 at Grand Casino Arena before an announced crowd of 13,052.

The Americans lost for the first time in four games in the world junior tournament to finish second on group play. They awaited the result of the Group B finale between Canada and Finland to determine their quarterfinal matchup.