The 20-year-old defender finished the game with three shots on goal, one hit, 2 PIM and a +2 rating in 21:08 TOI.
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Thomas Greiss all but assured that New York Islanders teammate Jaroslav Halak would be the starting goaltender for Team Europe when he gave up four goals on eight shots before Krueger gave him the hook at 10:22 of the first period.
Speed and youth overcame experience in the opening frame as North America was all over the puck.
Red Wings forward Frans Nielsen scored for Europe, which got two goals from Marian Gaborik of the Los Angeles Kings and one from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare of the Philadelphia Flyers. Johnny Gaudreau and Aaron Ekblad also scored two goals during this pre-tournament tilt. Sep.
Detroit’s Larkin also had a two-goal game for Team North America, while St. Louis defenseman Colton Parayko and Colorado winger Nathan MacKinnon had two assists.
Down 5-1 after 20 minutes, Europe scored three straight goals to make a game of it.
That’s when Halak, who received a warm welcome from the 17,243 in attendance at the Bell Centre, came into the game. “We made it real easy on them. Everyone knew what we had to do out there”.
North America’s win comes three days after beating Europe 4-0 in Quebec City.
Halak allowed the Europeans to begin their comeback.
Team North America is living up to its reputation as a fast, skilled hockey team with an explosive offence.
Larkin added his second in an empty net in the game’s final minute.
Team North America moves to Pittsburgh where it should face a tougher test Wednesday against the Czech Republic.
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Larkin gave North America a 2-0 lead 6:47 into the game and then completed the scoring with 14 seconds left.
