CANADA falls to U.S.

The United States rallies from a 3-1 deficit to edge Canada in a shootout at World Juniors

After penalties cost Canada a shootout to the rival United States — again — head coach Dominique Ducharme didn’t mince words about discipline and if it would be a factor for his team going forward at the world junior hockey championship.

“It won’t be. It won’t be. I can guarantee you that, that’s for sure,” said Ducharme before striding off stage and ending his post-game news conference.

Kieffer Bellows and Brady Tkachuk scored in the shootout as the U.S. beat Canada 4-3 on Friday in the first outdoor game in tournament history.

Scott Perunovich and Tkachuk scored in the third as the Americans (2-1) rallied from a two-goal deficit, just as they did in last year’s gold-medal game which the U.S. also won in a shootout. Bellows had a second-period goal with Casey Mittelstadt earning three assists.

Canada had built a seemingly unassailable 2-0 lead with five minutes remaining in the second period. As snow blanketed the 44,592 in attendance at New Era Field, it also slowed down the pace of the game as players struggled to see the puck, let alone control it as it skittered across the ice.

The tough playing conditions could have been beneficial with a solid lead, but Canadian forwards Brett Howden and Alex Formenton took penalties at the same time, giving the United States an important two-man advantage. For the first minute of the power play the Americans couldn’t get anything going, with the puck slowing down in the snow, allowing Canadian defenders to get back into position.

But Bellows solved the problem of the snow breaking up passes by blasting a slapshot from the point that Canadian goalie Carter Hart, screened by his teammates, couldn’t see.

“We had control of the game,” said Ducharme. “We put them back into the game with bad penalties.”

Although Boris Katchouk replied with a quick goal to give Canada a 3-1 lead 1:12 later, the momentum had shifted to the United States headed into the third period.

“I think with anyone overcoming twogoal deficits it’s just never give up,” said Bellows. “You’ve got to have resiliency in that locker-room. Everyone’s got to believe in one another. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, just keep battling and keep fighting.”

Maxime Comtois took a boarding penalty nearly five minutes into the third and, again, put Canada down a man. When the Canadians did break up the American attack, they opted to counterattack instead of simply running out the clock. It was a costly mistake.

“We’re killing that two-minute penalty early in the third period, there’s about two inches of snow on the ice and it’s a twoon-two and we’re trying to go score,” said Ducharme. “Turnover, comes back, and they score.”

Perunovich worked a give-and-go play with Mittelstadt to cut Canada’s lead to 32 on that power play. Hart’s lateral movement seemed to be slowed by the snow and Canada’s defence was out of position, allowing Mittelstadt to find Perunovich in the slot. The Americans finished the game 2-for-6 on the power play and Canada scored twice on three chances.

Mittelstadt set up another goal less than a minute later to tie it 3-3 and eventually force the extra period. He stripped defenceman Kale Clague of the puck near the endboards, then fed Tkachuk, who saluted the crowd before pounding both fists on the boards to celebrate.

Five minutes of three-on-three overtime settled nothing, with the game going to a shootout. Sam Steel, Taylor Raddysh and Drake Batherson couldn’t score for Canada, while Bellows and Tkachuk put the puck past Hart.

Cale Makar and captain Dillon Dube also scored for Canada (2-1). Jake Oettinger stopped 19 shots for the Americans.

A light snowfall began during the national anthems but became more intense during the second period and didn’t relent until the shootout.

Canada faces Denmark today, with a win insuring that they will win Group A and earn an advantageous seeding in the quarter-finals that start Tuesday.