Team USA Wins Gold at World Juniors In Epic Fashion – USA Hockey

MONTREAL — The U.S. rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits and Troy Terry (Highlands Ranch, Colo./University of 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 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship.

Goaltender Tyler Parsons (Chesterfield, Mich.) made 46 saves and stopped all five Canadian shots in the shootout.

“What a terrific game between two fantastic hockey countries,” said Bob Motzko, head coach of Team USA. “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 IIHF World Junior Championship, 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 (Long Beach, N.Y./Boston University) put the U.S. on the board 3:04 into the second stanza. The play started when Jordan Greenway (Canton, N.Y./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 (Jericho, N.Y./Harvard University) deflected off  Kieffer Bellows (Edina, Minn./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 (Hanover, Mass./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 (St. Louis, Mo./Boston University) just :45 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.

In the five-round shootout, Terry – who scored three times in yesterday’s semifinal shootout win over Russia, including the decisive goal — tallied in the top of the fourth round to account for the only goal. After Terry’s tally, Parsons sealed the deal by stopping the final two Canadian shootout attempts and all five in total.

NOTES: Charlie McAvoy (Long Beach, N.Y./Boston University) was named the U.S. Player of the Game … Canada outshot the U.S., 50-36 … Team USA was 1-for-2 on the power play, while Canada was 1-for-6 … The U.S. has won a medal in five of the last eight IIHF World Junior Championships, the best stretch in the history of the country … Team USA’s Best Three Players of the Tournament included Charlie McAvoy, Clayton Keller (St. Louis, Mo./Boston University) and Jordan Greenway (Canton, N.Y./Boston University) … Charlie McAvoy and Clayton Keller were named to the Media All-Star Team … The U.S. won all seven games it played in the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, representing the most wins in a single World Juniors ever for the U.S. … Clayton Keller (3-8–11) led all U.S. players in the tournament in points, followed by Colin White (7-1–8) and Jordan Greenway (3-5–8). White was Team USA’s top goal scorer with seven … Keller’s 11 points put him third in the tournament, while White’s seven goals ranked second … Team USA beat both Russia and Canada twice in the tournament on the way to earning gold … Troy Terry scored four shootout goals — all five-hole — over the final two games to help lead Team USA to gold. In the U.S. semifinal victory over Russia, Terry tallied three of those shootout goals, including the game-winner in the seventh round, while in tonight’s gold-medal game against Canada, he tallied the shootout’s lone goal in the fourth round … The last U.S. men’s national team to play in Montreal for a championship was the 1996 World Cup of Hockey Team. After losing the first game in the best-of-three final series in Philadelphia, Team USA won two straight in Montreal to capture the very first World Cup of Hockey championship … The U.S. will host next year’s IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo, New York, from Dec. 26, 2017 – Jan. 5, 2018. The event, for the first time ever, will feature an outdoor game between the U.S. and Canada at New Era Field, home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.