LA Kings forward Trevor Moore and Team USA opened play against Team Finland on Saturday. Afterward, his head coach praised Moore for his compete level.
In the latter half of the 2021 season, Trevor Moore became one of the most reliable players for the LA Kings. Once a fourth-line winger, the 26-year-old was bumped up to the top-six forwards over the last 15 games or so. The Thousand Oaks, CA native, enjoyed his best season to date, tallying 10 goals and 23 points in 56 games.
One of four Kings players invited to Riga, Latvia to participate in the IIHF World Championships for Team USA, Moore was joined by goalie Cal Petersen and defensemen Matt Roy and Christian Wolanin.
Team USA opened tournament play on Saturday against Olli Maatta and Team Finland, the reigning Gold Medal winners, with last year’s tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moore has primarily played along the wing during his career, but Team USA head coach Jack Capuano had the LA Kings forward centering the team’s top line.
Moore played alongside Conor Garland (Coyotes) and Jason Robertson (Stars), with the latter tallying Team USA’s lone goal with just under two minutes remaining in the second period. Wolanin registered the primary assist on Robertson’s goal.
Despite just one goal getting past Finnish netminder Jussi Olkinuora, Moore’s line was buzzing from the get-go. The 26-year-old registered just one shot on net, but he won 50 percent of his faceoffs.
Following the game, I had the chance to ask Coach Capuano about Moore’s play centering the team’s top line.
“You know what, I thought he was real good. He competed hard. One thing that we talked about coming in, and even after the game today, he gives you everything he’s got. And he really does the intangibles. He’s got a good stick. He tracked hard. I thought he was really good down low on our breakouts. He’s got really good hockey intelligence. But, you know, he competes. And that’s the one thing that you know, win or lose hockey games while we’re here, we want to compete, and we want to compete hard. And, you know, “Mooresy” did a really good job of that tonight.”
Trevor Moore and Team USA will face Gabe Vilardi and Team Canada on Sunday with puck drop set for 10:15 am PT.