WATCH Auston Matthews leads Team USA to semifinals with two pretty goals

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Top NHL Draft prospect Auston Matthews may have just had Justin Schultz Women Jersey  the signature moment of his draft-eligible season. The 18-year-old phenom led Team USA to a stunning 2-1 shootout victory over top-seeded Czech Republic to advance to the semifinals at the World Championship, scoring both the regulation goal that tied the game and the winning shootout goal. Team USA's roster is littered with young players. It's one of the youngest teams by average age USA Hockey has ever sent to the tournament. As a result, expectations were not very high for this group, which features seven players that were in college hockey last season. The youngest of all of them, however, is Matthews who has been one of the Americans' most threatening forwards throughout the tournament. rookie sensation is the other. Matthews now has seven points through eight games at the tournament, including four goals. He is tied with Larkin for Team USA's scoring lead. Here's how he made his impact in Thursday's quarterfinal: With the Americans trailing 1-0  Michel Briere Women Jersey in the second period, Matthews took a pa s from prospect Frank Vatrano before showing off the speed and power that has many believing he can be an immediate impact player at the NHL level.   Matthews sped around the defenseman before lowering his shoulder to get body position and then he showed his touch around the net by beating the netminder with a silky-smooth backhand through the five hole. It will never cease to amaze me when an 18-year-old can make a difficult play like that look as casual as he did that one. Then in the shootout, after goalie (who was fantastic in the game) stopped the first two Czech shooters, Matthews went  Josh Archibald Men Jersey wide on Czech goalie Dominik Furch before dropping a surprise shot through the five whole that slipped through.  Auston Matthews is a STUD!  NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports)  Quick hands and another confident finish from the Scottsdale, Ariz., native on that one. Furch was late to react to it. Kinkaid stopped the last Czech attempt to seal the win for Team USA. Debate has been intensifying around Josh Archibald Women Jersey  whether or not Matthews should go No. 1. A lot of that is due to the incredible late-season push being made by Finnish sniper Patrik Laine, who is also playing in the World Championship. After Laine's star turn as the MVP in the SM-Liiga playoffs for champion Tappara, he's been Finland's leading scorer at the Worlds. Laine already has seven goals in the tournament, including one in his team's quarterfinal win over Denmark Thursday. He also has 11 points through eight games so far.   The Matthews-Laine debate is one worth having (and one we'll cover soon), but Matthews has done a lot in this tournament without much support on Team USA's shallow roster. The fact that he's been able to come in and be an offensive leader shows the maturity of a kid that was two days from last year Olli Maatta Men Jersey 's draft cutoff. Whether he goes first or second, Matthews is going to be an incredible player at the next level.
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