The U.S. rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits and Troy Terry (Denver), for the second straight night, scored the game winner in the shootout as the U.S. National Junior Team beat Canada 5-4 to win the gold medal at the 2017 World Junior Championship Thursday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
[scg_html_wjc2017]Goaltender Tyler Parsons (OHL’s London Knights) made 46 saves and stopped all five Canadian shots in the shootout.
“What a terrific game between two fantastic hockey countries,” said Team USA coach Bob Motzko (St. Cloud State) in a news release. “When we got together in Michigan for our camp this summer, there was something special with these guys. This team had great camaraderie, tremendous heart and always battled.
“This is a special group who will forever walk together.”
The victory gives Team USA its fourth gold medal at the World Juniors and tenth medal all time in the event. The U.S. is now 4-1 all-time in gold-medal games at the World Juniors.
Canada got out to a 2-0 lead entering the first intermission on goals by Thomas Chabot and Jeremy Lauzon at 4:58 and 9:02 of the opening period.
Charlie McAvoy (Boston University) put the U.S. on the board 3:04 into the second stanza. The play started when Jordan Greenway (Boston University) came down the left wing and dropped a pass for McAvoy, who fired a shot from the slot past Canadian goaltender Carter Hart.
Team USA tied the game on the power play 9:30 into the second period when a shot from the point by Adam Fox (Harvard) deflected off Kieffer Bellows (Boston University) and into the net.
The U.S. killed a pair of minor penalties in the final 6:38 of the frame to keep the score tied entering the final period.
Canada regained a two-goal lead on a pair of markers in the first 4:05 of the third period. Nicolas Roy tallied on the power play 1:52 into the period before Mathieu Joseph scored 2:13 later.
Team USA responded just 39 seconds after Joseph’s tally with Bellows’ second goal of the contest. McAvoy fed a cross-ice pass to Bellows, who one-timed the puck from the right circle for the score.
Colin White (Boston College) deflected a shot by Fox at the side of the net to knot the score at 7:07 of the third stanza. The marker was the team-leading seventh for White in the tournament.
The game headed to a 20-minute, five-on-five overtime period tied at 4-4 and both teams had chances, including a golden opportunity by Clayton Keller (Boston University) just 45 seconds into the extra session from the side of the left circle. In the end, both goaltenders stood tall with Parsons making 17 saves in the extra session for the U.S., while Hart had seven stops for Canada.
Team USA was forced to kill a penalty for too many men in the overtime, one of five straight power plays for Canada in the contest.
Canada outshot the U.S. 50-36.
In the five-round shootout, Terry – who scored three times in Wednesday’s shootout win over Russia in the semifinals, including the decisive goal — scored in the top of the fourth round to account for the only goal. Parsons finished off the victory stopping the final two Canadian shootout attempts.
Notebook
- McAvoy was named the U.S. Player of the Game.
- The U.S. has won a medal in five of the last eight World Junior Championships, the best stretch in the history of the country.
- Team USA’s Best Three Players of the Tournament included McAvoy, Keller and Greenway, while McAvoy and Keller were named to the Media All-Star Team.
- The U.S. won all seven games it played in the event, representing the most wins in a single World Juniors ever for the U.S.
- Keller (3-8–11) led all U.S. players in the tournament in points, followed by White (7-1–8) and Greenway (3-5–8).
