THE CANADIAN PRESS
SASKATOON — Jack Campbell recorded a shutout Sunday, but even he had to admit that he might not have been the best goaltender on the ice.
Campbell turned aside 22 shots as the U.S., remained unbeaten at the world junior hockey championship Sunday with a 3-0 victory over Switzerland.
Chris Kreider, Matt Donovan and A.J. Jenks had goals for the Americans (2-0), who opened the tournament with an equally impressive 7-3 win over Slovakia on Saturday.
Benjamin Conz was sensational in defeat, making 46 saves for Switzerland (0-1). Campbell praised his Swiss counterpart after the game.
"He played great — I was getting a little nervous there," said Campbell. "It was one of those games where the other goalie is standing on his head while I didn’t get too many shots.
"He played great all night and we were lucky to bury a few on him in the end."
With Campbell’s strong performance, the Americans may need some more time to sort out who their starting goaltender will be going forward. Mike Lee stopped 17 shots in the tournament-opening win over the Slovaks.
"We just go day-to-day," said Campbell. "(The coaches) don’t really give us much of a hint. Whoever plays, we’re going to be rooting for each other."
With a partisan crowd in Saskatoon behind them, the Swiss were the stronger side in the opening period, generating more scoring chances than the Americans. Sven Ryser had a chance to put Switzerland up 1-0, but was denied by Campbell on a partial breakaway with six minutes remaining in the period.
Kreider was the only player to beat Conz in the opening 40 minutes when he deflected in a Cam Fowler point shot on the power play at 5:51 of the second period. Conz appeared to not have seen the puck until it was in the net.
Conz was sensational from that point on as the Americans rifled 38 shots on goal over the final two periods. But the Swiss couldn’t convert their chances, and Donovan gave the U.S., a 2-0 lead with seven minutes left. Jenks put the game out of reach four minutes later.
"Obviously it’s very disappointing — we were really close," said Switzerland captain and Anaheim Ducks prospect Luca Sbisa. "I think we showed a lot of positives tonight. If we had put one or two in it would have been a different game."
Switzerland will be in tough Monday (TSN, 4 p.m. ET), facing a Canadian team that opened its quest for a sixth straight title with a 16-0 drubbing of Latvia.
"We got to keep working hard," said Sbisa. "We got a lot of good guys on this team, and against Canada we can surprise a lot of people.
"I think we’re pretty close but we just need to find that something extra."
