Canada vs United States is always so much fun and of course this time it was no exception. We were a little spoiled in the sense that it was on the first day. The United States came into that game as the underdog, Canada is expected to win the tournament and it would be tough to get the win. The game began with the States dominating the first 8 minutes of the game, not allowing Canada to get a shot on net. That all culminated into a beautiful tipped powerplay goal by UND product Shane Pinto. Canada got it’s legs under them and started pushing back hard, but of course Spencer Knight was there.
They scored their second goal on a beautiful feed from Zegras over to Kaliyev on the powerplay. Canada tied the game, even made it 3-2. Shane Pinto would have had his 2nd of the game at the end of the 2nd period but the period ended just a little too quickly. Canada went up 4-2 in the 3rd and the game was slipping out of reach for the Americans. They got a little life with a snip from Nick Robertson coming into the zone. Then they tied the game in the last 3 minutes from who else but Shane Pinto? Canada took the lead 7 seconds later and the game was all but wrapped up. The final score was 6-4 and that was truly a very exciting game.
Overall the game for the Americans was just okay. Players you should expect to dominate were almost invisible. Watching the game, I barely noticed Oliver Walhstrom and that’s a problem. He had a good opportunity to score on the doorstep but outside of that was not impressed with his game. Cole Caulfield was another player who just seemed to not be his regular self. Can we chalk this up to nerves? Probably. But there needs to be some accountability for top players.
Spencer Knight was solid throughout the game, but I wouldn’t say he did anything to steal the game. Don’t be surprised to see him have amazing games after this one and really come into his own. Players who I was very impressed with were Nick Robertson, lot’s of motor and made chances for him and his linemates. Shane Pinto was lights out, was everywhere and was no question the best US player with a nice 3 point game. Bobby Brink had himself a good game, creating chances and getting to areas to score.
I felt that Canada dominated most of the game against the States, they were all over them at times and definitely took advantage of the weaker D that the States has. If they meet again, expect the US to bring a different tempo otherwise their tournament will be over. Overall expect the US to defeat Germany quite easily this morning.
Photo Credit – Team Canada (twitter)
