Ryan Leonard recorded his first multi-goal game of the 2025 World Junior Championship in Team USA’s 7-2 quarterfinal win over Switzerland. The 19-year-old winger now has more than a point per game in the tournament with six points (4g, 2a) through five games.
Leonard, the USA captain, first got on the board 11:35 into the first period to put his team up 3-0. After intercepting a Swiss pass in the neutral zone, Leonard made a power move to the net and roofed a forehand shot past goaltender Christian Kirsch.
The 2024 first-round draft pick potted another with 3:37 left in the second period during a USA power play. He finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Gabe Perreault and Zeev Buium.
Leonard did not come out of the win unscathed, though, as the rambunctious winger took a high stick to the bridge of his nose and later a puck to the face. However, he did not miss any time in the game, firing eight shots on goal in 16:07 of ice time.
The Washington Capitals prospect appeared to be sporting a broken nose with some serious swelling during the third period.
“Nose, yeah, unlucky,” Leonard told FloHockey postgame. “Probably get it checked out after this. I don’t know, we’ll see what happens.”
I *think* Ryan Leonard's nose is broken after deflecting a shot into his own face, but there was no blood and he's staying on the bench pic.twitter.com/w4t43tytuJ
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) January 2, 2025
At the end of regulation, Leonard was named the USA’s player of the game. The primarily Canadian crowd at Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre booed him as he accepted the award.
“Yeah, it’s great honestly,” Leonard said. “At the end of the game when I got that award and you hear the boos, it kind of just made me smile. Honestly, it’s cool to be hated. Yeah, it’s cool.”
Fellow Caps prospect Leon Muggli saw his tournament end at the hands of Leonard and Team USA. Muggli finished with three points (3a) in five games.
The Americans will now advance to the semifinals. They will await the results of the other quarterfinal matchups to determine their opponent.
