Two Michigan State recruits got some valuable big game experience at the IIHF World Junior Championship over the past week. Defenseman Maxim Strbak represented Slovakia in this tournament and goaltender Trey Augustine represented Team USA.

Augustine flipped his commitment from Michigan to Michigan State in September and has been playing for the U.S. National Development Team under-18 squad. Augustine came into the tournament battling for the top goaltender spot with Kaidan Mbereko. Augustine took control of the No. 1 spot after a solid performance against Latvia. He posted 15 saves on 17 shots in a 5-2 win for Team USA to open the tournament. Mbereko’s performance in a 6-3 loss against Strbak and Slovakia further cemented Augustine’s No. 1 position on Team USA.

The future Spartan continued his hot streak in wins over Switzerland and Finland. Against the Swiss team, Augustine had 18 saves on 19 shots. He followed that up with 29 saves on 31 shots against Finland. Team USA finished first in Group B and advanced to the quarterfinals behind Augustine’s performances in net.

Augustine played the first and second period for Team USA in its quarterfinal clash against Germany. He made a perfect 15 saves on 15 shots as the Americans dominated the Germans 11-1.

Competition ramped up once Team USA advanced to the semifinals. The Americans took on the eventual gold medalists, Canada. Team USA jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Canada scored six unanswered goals to win 6-2. Augustine made 31 saves on 36 Canadian shots. One of the goals by Canada was on an empty net.

Team USA bounced back in the bronze medal game, beating Sweden 8-7 in overtime. However, Augustine struggled. He made 15 saves on 20 shots before being replaced by Mbereko at the start of the third period.

Augustine ended the tournament with four wins, 2.85 goals against average and .891 save percentage. He led the team in all of those categories. Augustine signed his National Letter of Intent and will be in East Lansing for next season.

Strbak played on Slovakia’s second line throughout the tournament. He had a strong start as he collected two assists in Slovakia’s 5-2 loss against Finland. Strbak also had two shots on goal. He picked up his third assist of the tournament in a 6-3 win over Team USA.

Strbak didn’t pick up any more points in the rest of the tournament, but he continued playing on the second line for Slovakia. Strbak did have one penalty against Latvia in a 3-0 win.

He put the puck on net five times in Slovakia’s final preliminary stage game against Switzerland. Despite the five shots on goal, none of them found the back of the net. Slovakia lost the game 4-3 after a shootout, but it still finished third place in Group B.

Slovakia played host nation Canada in the quarterfinals. The Canadians jumped out to a 3-1 lead. Slovakia scored in the second and third periods to send the game into overtime. Connor Bedard, the top point-scorer at the World Juniors, won the game for Canada. Strbak didn’t register any points or shots but had 22 minutes of ice time.

Strbak was a constant for Slovakia in the tournament. He played in all five games, had three assists and had a plus-minus of plus-two (+2). Strbak is expected to be on MSU’s roster next fall.