World Junior Championship Recap: Team USA Downs Team Canada in Shootout to Win the Gold Medal

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Michael Fleetwood
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The Globe and Mail

Seven years to the day current Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson scored the overtime game-winning goal to win the United States the Gold Medal at the World Junior Championships, the United States took it one step further to win in the shootout to capture the Gold Medal for the USA. 

The WJC Gold Medal win is America’s fourth, with their last one coming in 2013.

1st Period
After almost five minutes of back-and-forth hockey, Thomas Chabot, an Ottawa Senators prospect, put the Canadians on the board first after USA goalie Tyler Parsons was caught out of position. Matthew Barzal and Mathieu Joseph were credited with assists on the goal. But Canada wouldn’t stop there. Unable to clear the puck out of their zone, Team USA turned the puck over to Mitchell Stephens, who dished the puck to Jeremy Kauzon, who fired a laser past Parsons to put Team Canada up     2-0.  The rest of the period saw the Canadians dominate the United States in play, maintaining pressure on Parsons consistently.

2nd Period
The first three minutes of the middle frame saw the USA pick up the quality of their play and they were rewarded for their efforts with a goal from Charlie McAvoy (his second of the tournament) from the high slot. Jordan Greenway and Adam Fox were awarded with the assists on the goal. After Team Canada was called for too many men on the ice, an Adam Fox shot deflected off Kieffer Bellows in front to knot the game at 2-2. Tage Thompson was also awarded with an assist on the play. The period would end with a huge penalty kill by Team USA.

3rd Period
The final frame began in nerve-wracking fashion. Less than two minutes into the third, Nicolas Roy beat Parsons top-shelf to put Canada ahead 3-2. Jake Bean and Tyson Jost were credited with assists. No more than three minutes later, Mathieu Joseph scored on a breakaway off a faceoff win by Canada to give the Canadians some breathing room. Moments later, Kieffer Bellows would answer with his second goal of the game to draw the Americans within on, which lowered the noise of the raucous Canada fans in the stands (the tournament is being played at the Bell Centre in Montreal). The momentum would swing in the favor of the Red, Ehite, and Blue, as Colin White deflected a shot from point past Team Canada goaltender Carter Hart to tie the game at 4-4. After close play between each team, the game headed to sudden death overtime.

Overtime
Despite numerous chances for both teams, the Gold Medal game got even more dramatic as neither team scored, sending this one for the ages game to a shootout.

Shootout
Colin White would shoot for the USA first, and was stoned cold by Carter Hart. Dylan Strome, a top pick of the Arizona Coyotes, was up first for the Canadians and Tyler Parsons stopped him with the blocker. Both goalies would keep their teams in it with crucial saves. Troy Terry, the hero in the shootout for the USA against Russia, converted on his chance and Canada and the USA were stopped. Parsons stopped Nicolas Roy to win the Gold for the United States

Terry Goal:

Parsons Save:

NoVa Caps congratulates both teams on fantastic tournament performances!

By Michael Fleetwood

About Michael Fleetwood

Michael Fleetwood was born into a family of diehard Capitals fans and has been watching games as long as he can remember. He was born the year the Capitals went to their first Stanley Cup Final, and is a diehard Caps fan, the owner of the very FIRST Joe Beninati jersey and since then, has met Joe himself. Michael joined the NoVa Caps team in 2015, and is most proud of the growth of the NoVa Caps community in that time. An avid photographer, Michael resides in VA.
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