Game Report 1277 IIHF World Junior Championship
PLAYED AT: Helsinki Ice Hall
Date: Dec 26, 2015
GAME NOTES: CANADA FALLS TO U.S. IN WORLD JUNIORS OPENER DAVID BRIEN HELSINKI, Finland – Mathew Barzal (Coquitlam, B.C./Seattle, WHL) and Dylan Strome (Mississauga, Ont./Erie, OHL) scored goals, but Canada’s National Junior Team dropped a 4-2 decision to the United States in the first preliminary round game for both Saturday at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship. It’s the first time Canada has lost its tournament opener since 1998, also in Helsinki. Mason McDonald (Halifax, N.S./Charlottetown, QMJHL) finished with 21 saves in goal for the Canadians, who outshot the Americans 27-25 but lost in regulation in the preliminary round for the first time since 2008. After a quiet first period that included only nine shots in total (5-4 in favour of Canada), Barzal needed just 5:06 of the second to get the scoring started; Julien Gauthier (Pointe-aux-Trembles, Que./Val-d’Or, QMJHL) made a pretty pass from his knees, and Barzal picked the top corner for a 1-0 Canadian lead. Colin White tied the game late in the middle frame, taking advantage of a bounce off the end-boards and beating McDonald for a tap-in goal, sending the game to the intermission even at 1-1. The U.S. took its first lead of the game 7:22 into the third period when Werenski fired a point shot on the power play that made its way through a screen and beat McDonald, but Strome would make it 2-2 with a power play goal of his own just three minutes later, snapping a shot past U.S. netminder Alex Nedeljkovic. A carbon copy of the Americans’ second goal would make it 3-2, but this time it was Louie Belpedio’s shot from the point that made its way through a screen with 3:18 left in the game. Matthews clinched the win just 41 seconds later, poking in a loose puck to make it 4-2. White, Werenski and Matthews all had a goal and an assist in the U.S. win. After a day off, Canada will try again for its first win on Monday, taking on Denmark (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT). 		Visiting Team: Canada
 Home Team: United States
CANADA LINEUP
Pos No.   Name
G1  McDonald, Mason
G33  Montembeault, Samuel
 2  Hicketts, Joe
 4  Fleury, Haydn
 5  Chabot, Thomas
 6  Hickey, Brandon
 9  Strome, Dylan
 11  Perlini, Brendan
 12  Gauthier, Julien
 13  Barzal, Mathew
 14  Chartier, Rourke
 16  Marner, Mitchell
 17  Konecny, Travis
 18  Virtanen, Jake
 19  Point, Brayden
 20  McKeown, Roland
 21  Beauvillier, Anthony
 22  Quenneville, John
 23  Sanheim, Travis
 24  Dermott, Travis
 27  Stephens, Mitchell
 28  Crouse, Lawson
CANADA PENALTIES
Per. No.  Min  Offence Off PP PS Start On
1st9 2:00 Slashing minor 1:341 1:340:26
3rd22 2:00 (auto) Goaltender Interference minor 6:541 6:5415:06
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
UNITED STATES LINEUP
Pos No.   Name
G31  Nedeljkovic, Alex
G36  Halverson, Brandon
 4  Krys, Chad
 5  Fortunato, Brandon
 7  Tkachuk, Matthew
 8  Belpedio, Louie
 9  Schmaltz, Nick
 10  Bjork, Anders
 11  Dvorak, Christian
 12  Debrincat, Alex
 13  Werenski, Zach
 14  Eansor, Scott
 17  MacInnis, Ryan
 18  White, Colin
 19  Donato, Ryan
 20  Borgen, Will
 21  Hitchcock, Ryan
 23  Boeser, Brock
 25  Mcavoy, Charlie
 26  Carlo, Brandon
 28  Milano, Sonny
 34  Matthews, Auston
UNITED STATES PENALTIES
Per. No.  Min  Offence Off PP PS Start On
1st12 5:00 Spearing major 17:201 17:207:40
1st12 10:00 Spearing game misconduct 17:20  17:2012:40
3rd13 2:00 Slashing minor 9:351 9:3512:25
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
CANADA Goals CANADA PLAYERS (plus) UNITED STATES PLAYERS (minus)
Per. Time    G-As1-As2    
2nd5:06  13-12-14            
3rd10:45 PP 9-16-24            
                
                
UNITED STATES Goals UNITED STATES PLAYERS (plus) CANADA PLAYERS (minus)
Per. Time    G-As1-As2    
2nd16:33  18-28-11            
3rd7:22 PP 13-34-7            
3rd16:42  8-20-18            
3rd17:23  34-13-7            
POWER PLAY OPPORTUNITIES
CANADA 1 / 2
UNITED STATES 1 / 2
PENALTY SUMMARY
CANADA 4 min / 2 inf
UNITED STATES 17 min / 3 inf
POINT SUMMARY
CANADA 2 G + 4 A = 6 Pts
UNITED STATES 4 G + 8 A = 12 Pts
SCORING 1 2 3 Total
CANADA0112
UNITED STATES0134
GOALTENDER/SAVES (Time) 1 2 3 Tot. On Off
CAN - McDonald (58:51) (L)49821/0:003rd/18:51
USA - Nedeljkovic (60:00) (W)591125/0:003rd/20:00
Stars of the Game TIME OF GAME:
  -  Start: 1:00 PM
  -  End: 1:00 PM
  -  Attendance: 0 
OFFICIALS
Referee:
Referee:
Linesmen:
Linesmen:
CERTIFIED CORRECT
 
This report has been checked and verified against the Official IIHF World Junior Championship Game Report.

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