Lipkin Records First World Juniors Point in Team USA's Win over Switzerland
12/29/2022 6:34:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
Give Sam an assist off the draw for his first point of the tournament!@sam_lipkin3 x #BobcatNation https://t.co/fmL8V49sw8
— Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH) December 29, 2022
Lipkin also recorded a big, first-period hit that continued to help head coach Rand Pecknold's Team USA to set the tone in a bounce-back affair after last night's defeat at the hands of Slovakia.
"Get out of my way 😤" - Sam, probs@sam_lipkin3 x #WorldJuniorspic.twitter.com/m5GLC31Po3
— Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH) December 29, 2022
Pecknold's American squad outshot Switzerland 42-19, including 34-11 over the final two frames to take control and go back over .500 in pool play.
They will return to action on New Year's Eve, taking on Finland at 4 p.m., Eastern. The game will be televised live on NHL Network.
ABOUT TEAM USA SCHEDULE
Team USA competes in Group B along with Finland, Latvia, Slovakia and Switzerland during preliminary round action at the Avenir Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick. Group A includes Austria, Canada, Czechia, Germany and Sweden, who will compete at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
All of the U.S. National Junior Team's four preliminary-round games will take place at 5 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) and will be televised live on NHL Network. Team USA closes the preliminary round with a showdown against Finland on Dec. 31.
The top four teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinal round, which is set for Jan. 2. The Avenir Centre in Moncton, N.B., will feature games starting at 12 p.m. (11 a.m. ET) and 5 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) local time. The Scotiabank Centre will play host to the other two quarterfinal matchups, set for 2:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. ET) and 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET) local time.
The winners of the quarterfinal games will advance to the semifinals, which will be held at Scotiabank Centre on Jan. 4 at 3:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET) and 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET) local time.
The final day of competition will take place the following day, Jan. 5, at Scotiabank Centre. The bronze-medal game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET) local time, with the gold-medal finale set for 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET) local time.
ABOUT PECKNOLD
He has twice been part of U.S. coaching staffs, including for the U.S. Men's National Team that competed in the 2017 IIHF Men's World Championship and for the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team that earned a silver medal in the 2018 IIHF U18 Men's World Championship.
Pecknold began his storied career at Quinnipiac in 1994-95 when the team competed at the Division II level. He shepherded the school into its Division I era in 1998-99, leading the Bobcats to a then school-record 26 victories, with 18 additional 20-plus win campaigns to his credit since and also three seasons with 30 or more wins.
The four-time ECAC Hockey Tim Taylor Coach of the Year played hockey collegiately at Connecticut College (1986-90) where he earned both a bachelor's degree in economics and master's degree in education. He went on to serve three seasons (1991-94) as an assistant hockey coach for the school before taking over the head coaching reins at Quinnipiac.
