BOSTON – Goals from Brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo./Ottawa Senators) and Jake Sanderson (Whitefish, Mont./Ottawa Senators) were not enough as the U.S. Men’s National Team fell to Canada in overtime, 3-2, in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game at TD Garden tonight.
“I could not be more proud of this group,” said U.S. Head Coach Mike Sullivan. “They competed hard all night and are outstanding representatives of our sport and country. The game tonight was an incredible display of hockey on both sides and this tournament was absolutely great for our sport.”
The U.S. finished the tournament with a 2-0-1-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record, ultimately coming in second place.
Nathan MacKinnon broke the ice for Canada at the 4:48 mark of the opening period, as he fired a wrister from the high slot through traffic that found the back of the net.
HIGHLIGHTS
U.S. netminder Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich./Winnipeg Jets) denied Canada on back-to-back opportunities with 9:24 left in the opening frame, as he sprawled across the crease to deny Seth Jarvis during a net-front scrum. He finished the contest with 24 saves, including three in overtime.
Brady Tkachuk knotted the game at 1-1 for the U.S. at 16:52, as he powered one home through Canadian defenders after a centering feed from Auston Matthews (Scottsdale, Ariz./Toronto Maple Leafs).
At 7:31 into the middle frame, Sanderson gave the U.S. the lead, cashing in on a bouncing rebound generated from a shot by Matthews to score his first of the tournament. Zach Werenski (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Columbus Blue Jackets) tallied a tournament-leading sixth assist on the goal.
Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich./Detroit Red Wings) nearly added to the lead with 9:17 left in the second, as J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio/New York Rangers) found him with a cross-crease pass on a shorthanded two-on-one chance, but his shot which was denied.
A stellar defensive effort by Jaccob Slavin (Erie, Colo./Carolina Hurricanes) kept the U.S. in front with 7:45 left to play in the middle stanza, as he denied Sidney Crosby with a blocked shot on a rebound chance in front of an open net.
Sam Bennett tied the game for Canada at 14:00, as he fired a shot over Hellebuyck’s blocker shoulder from just below the left circle to knot the game, 2-2.
Jake Guentzel (Woodbury, Minn./Tampa Bay Lightning) took advantage of a poorly timed Canadian line change with 17:07 remaining in the third, but his breakaway chance was stopped.
Miller made a crucial defensive play with 26 seconds remaining in regulation, sweeping the puck away from the U.S. net to send the contest to overtime.
Matthews almost found the overtime winner just in front of Binnington’s crease at the 2:52 mark of the overtime frame following a feed from Guentzel but could not find the back of the net. Moments later, a pair of chances by Matthews and Brady Tkachuk were stopped in quick succession.
Connor McDavid scored the game-winning goal at the 8:18 mark of the overtime frame on a wrist shot in the slot to seal the 3-2 victory for Canada.
NOTES: The U.S. outshot Canada, 33-27 … Team USA did not have a power play opportunity while Canada went 0-for-1 on the power play.
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Source: usahockey.com