OTTAWA, Ontario — Danny Nelson scored the eventual game-winner within the third interval and Trey Augustine made 38 saves, main the US to a 4-1 win over Canada on Tuesday night time and into the highest spot in Group A on the world junior hockey championship.
Cole Hutson and Cole Eiserman every had a objective and an help for the People. Ryan Leonard scored into an empty-net.
Bradly Nadeau scored for Canada, which allowed three targets on seven American energy performs. Carter George stopped 24 pictures.
Canada completed third within the pool and can face Czechia in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The People face Switzerland.
“We’re not right here to beat Canada tonight,” Augustine mentioned. “We’re right here to win a gold medal.”
The opposite matchups could have Group B winner Sweden tackle Latvia, and Finland sq. off with Slovakia.
Canada and the U.S. performed in the identical constructing precisely 16 years to the day on the 2009 occasion, when John Tavares scored a memorable hat trick in Canada’s 7-4 comeback victory on New Yr’s Eve. The Canadians went on to win a fifth straight gold.
“That is one thing that is storybook-like,” Eiserman mentioned of beating Canada on house soil within the event’s marquee round-robin matchup. “One thing that you have dreamt of.”
The groups met on New Yr’s Eve for the primary time since Dec. 31, 2016, when Canada picked up a 3-1 victory in Toronto. The U.S. received revenge lower than every week later with a 5-4 shootout win within the title sport in Montreal.
The People opened this under-20 event with a 10-4 win over Germany adopted by a 5-1 victory over Latvia earlier than dropping to Finland 4-3 in additional time. Canada began with a 4-0 defeat of Finland earlier than falling to Latvia 3-2 in a shootout after which rebounding to beat Germany 3-0.
The Canadians had an influence play to begin the third interval whereas trailing 1-0 after Leonard took a roughing name on the finish of the second. Nadeau blasted a one-timer for his first objective of the event off a feed from Brayden Yager at 1:58.
Nelson restored the U.S. lead at 4:22, taking a cross from Huston and beating George along with his third objective.
The U.S. scored its third power-play objective of the sport at 13:21 when Eiserman scored his second and put the sport out of attain at 3-1 after a boarding penalty by Canada’s Easton Cowan.
Leonard scored into the empty internet with 1:52 left in regulation to spark chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!”
George, who entered with consecutive shutouts that bookended the Latvia loss, noticed his streak finish at 133:02 on Tuesday’s first energy play to silence the beer-chugging crowd at Canadian Tire Centre.
Within the first interval, Hutson took benefit of a failed Canadian clearing try on a U.S. energy play and scored his second objective of the event.
Tempers flared later within the interval when Canada’s Luca Pinelli and Zeev Buium of the U.S. went off for roughing after which jawed at one another within the penalty field.
Leonard hit one other publish for the People and Carson Rehkopf fired an effort that Augustine, who entered with an .879 save share in two begins, received sufficient of along with his glove on the different finish earlier than tempers once more boiled over on the buzzer.
In one other Group A sport, Finland beat Latvia 3-0 and completed second within the group. In Group B, Switzerland beat Kazakhstan 3-1 to safe a spot within the quarterfinal spherical. Additionally, Sweden accomplished a sweep of its 4 preliminary spherical video games, beating Czechia 4-2 in one other Group B sport.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
