The noise was starting to pick up around James Hagens' production struggles as Team USA fell behind to Team Slovakia on Monday evening at the World Junior Championships. He still looked like a dynamic offensive player, but it wasn't translating into enough on the scoresheet. Many social media users wondered why the Boston Bruins' top prospect was struggling to score for the USA.
Been a rough start for the WJC for James Hagens. Would like to see more offense from the Bruins top prospect.
— Robert Chalmers (@IvanIvanlvan) December 30, 2025
It would be nice for Team USA if James Hagens finally joined the party #NHLBruins
— Brewin’ Bruins (@BrewinBruins) December 29, 2025
However, with a goal late in the second period and early in the third to put his country ahead, Hagens completely changed the narrative. He would go on to be the Player of the Game for Team USA, spoiling any chance of an upset loss and setting up a crucial game on New Year's Eve against Team Sweden for first place in Group A.
James Hagens putting Team USA on his back... that's TWO goals tonight now ✌️
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 30, 2025
(via @tsn_sports) pic.twitter.com/DUkq420VA3
There were some rough parts of the game for Hagens and Team USA, as head coach Bob Motzko even started using his second powerplay unit to start the man advantage because of the struggles of the first unit. While Hagens was one of the scapegoats for those struggles, the good news for Bruins fans is that Will Zellers was part of the second group that saw plenty of powerplay time.
Motzko's move awakened something in Hagens, as he was the best player on the ice for either team over the game's final 21 minutes. He had a considerable number of chances to score, and it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he was going to complete the hat trick.
Team Slovakia eventually scored a fifth goal, eliminating any chance that Hagens would record the winning goal. However, it was Zellers who scored his third game-winning goal of the tournament in the team's third game. While there were some other heroes for the USA in this game, it was the two Bruins prospects who stole the show in the final frame.
Motzko even gave Zellers some opportunities on the top line with Hagens. Zellers was on the ice when Hagens scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, which was something Bruins fans wanted to see since Zellers made the team. Motzko didn't move him there for the entire period, but giving him chances when the team needed a jolt could lead to seeing it again later in the tournament.