U.S.A. breaks Canada’s heart in world juniors gold medal clash

A TV screen shows U.S. player enjoying a world juniors title win.

The United States has Canada’s number in gold medal games at the world junior men’s hockey championships.

On Tuesday playing in a bubble environment before no fans at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alta., the United States blanked Canada 2-0 in the championship game at world juniors. World juniors were played in a bubble environment due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

In the five times the United States and Canada have met in the gold medal game at world juniors, the U.S.A. has now won the last four of those encounters in a row.

The loss was a tough pill for Canada to take. Canada had won gold one year earlier at the world juniors when they were held in Ostrava in the Czech Republic.

Through the preliminary, quarter-final and semifinal rounds, Canada had a 6-0 record outscoring its opponents 41-4. Canada, which topped Group A in the preliminary round, hadn’t trailed in any of its games at world juniors until hitting the gold medal game.

Coming into world juniors, Canada was a favourite to win gold. That favourite status increased when a number of other traditionally strong teams lots key players due to positive COVID-19 tests before entering the bubble in Edmonton.

The United States arrived in the bubble minus five players due to positive COVID-19 tests in Robert Mastrosimone, Alex Vlasic, John Beecher, Thomas Bordeleau and goalie Drew Commesso.

The U.S.A. dropped its first preliminary round game on Christmas Day by a 5-3 score to Russia. The United States rebounded to captured first place in the tougher Group B in the preliminary round with a 3-1 record and ultimately closed the event with six straight wins.

Connor Zary in action for the Blazers in 2019.

Going into the gold medal game, United States star forward Trevor Zegras said he didn’t believe Canada had faced a test as tough as one his side was going to bring. Zegras has a swagger that is comparable to that of Michael Irvin, who was a star receiver for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys three Super Bowl winners in the 1990s.

The United States came out ready to back Zegras’s assessment. The U.S. players came out with a start where they figuratively punched the Canadian side in the mouth.

The opening frame was played at a break neck pace with the United States holding a 13-9 edge in shots on goal. At the 13:25 mark of the first, the United States jumped ahead 1-0, when forward Alex Turcotte tipped home a point shot from rearguard Drew Helleson.

Zegras collected a second assist on that tally.

The opening U.S.A. goal marked the first time through the whole tournament including exhibition play where Canada trailed on the scoreboard. Canada would never get ahead on the scoreboard on this night.

After the opening 20 minutes, the United States came out blazing to open the second period and got the Canadian players running around in their own zone. A shot from the point by United States forward Arthur Kaliyev hit the back boards and came to rest at the back of the left side of the Canadian net.

Zegras calmly collected the loose puck and quickly tucked it behind Canadian netminder Devon Levi for a 2-0 lead. Levi had shifted to the right side of his goal expecting the puck to come out on that side.

Despite the jump the United States got, Canada still had a chance to get some traction before the second frame ended, and the first chance came in an unexpected spot.

Just after the midway point in the second period, the Canadian side was short-handed after forward Jakob Pelletier took a hooking penalty.

On the United States power play, Levi stoned Kaliyev on back-to-back big mid-range chances.

Bowen Byram in action for the Giants in 2019.

Following those saves, Canada got down ice on a short-handed rush. Off the rush, Canadian offensive-defenceman Bowen Byram cut across the front of the United States goal and put a backhand shot off the post.

Inside of the final two minutes of the second, United States netminder Spencer Knight turned away Canadian forward and Saskatoon product Connor Zary, who is a star with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, on a point-blank range try.

Had Canada capitalized on one of those chances, they possibly could have gotten the players on the United States side to start getting nervous and grip their sticks a little tighter.

The United States closed out the game with a textbook defensive effort in the third period. While Canada had a 15-1 edge in shots on goal in the frame, that statistic was a bit misleading, because most of those chances came from the outside.

It didn’t feel like the United States had lost control of the game in that frame.

With just over two minutes remaining in the third, Canadian forward Dylan Holloway had the best chance to score for his size in the stanza, but his close in shot was turned away by Knight.

Knight turned away 34 shots in goal for the United States to pick up his third shutout of the tournament. Levi made 19 stops to take the setback in net for Canada.

Zegras led the event in scoring piling up seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points in the seven games the United States played. He was named the tournament’s MVP and was placed on the tournament all-star team.

Levi, Byram, who is a star with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, and Dylan Cozens, who is a star centre with the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, were named to the tournament all-star team from Canada. Cozens topped Canada in scoring with eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in seven games.

Also named to the all-star team were German forward Tim Stutzle and Finland defenceman Ville Heinola. Finland downed Russia 4-1 in the bronze medal game held earlier in the day on Tuesday.

Dylan Cozens in action for the Hurricanes in 2019.

While Canada didn’t win, the Canadian team’s journey to the gold medal game at world juniors provided some normalcy over the holiday season for the Canadian team’s fans. Judging by social media, it is safe to say a sizable portion of Canada’s population took in Tuesday’s gold medal game.

Still, it was a contest and a night that belonged to the United States – country that ultimately showed its depth in the game and its swagger.

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