๐จ๐ฆ Canada 5-1 United States ๐บ๐ธ
World Championship Preliminaryย Round
Yubileyniy Sports Palace, Saint Petersburg ๐ท๐บ
Friday, 06 May 2016
North American rivals Canada and the United States faced off in the opening tilt here at the 2016 World Championships.
Canada came back from an early deficit in the first period to score five unanswered goals en route to a 5-1 victory at the 2016 IIHF World Championships.
Canada has now won its last eleven world championship contests going back to last years tournament when they ran the table and went undefeated in earning Gold.
A first period goal by Brendan Gallagher gave Canada a lead they would not relinquish. Cam Talbot turned aside 24 shots for the win.
“Weโve got to fix some things in the defensive zone.” USA Captain Matt Hendricks said. “Our structure broke down too many times tonight and gave them too many opportunities. A team with that type of high-end skill, theyโre going to find the back of the net.”
The Americans came out determined to make their mark. When Brody Jenner was called for a high stick at 3:40, it allowed for the first power play of the game. Team USA moved the puck well and some shots found their way to the net. At 4:54 Patrick Maroon found the back of the net with a solid effort.
Maroon took a pass from Kyle Connor near the side of the net then made a move in front for a high percentage shot. Talbot was able to get his pads on it but Maroon calmly found the rebound in traffic, took control of the puck and went backhand to score on his Edmonton Oilers teammate.
Connor and David Warsofsky assisted on the power play goal.
Not to be outdone, Canada bounced back quickly some thirty-one seconds later. Keith Kinkaid could not react fast enough to a Taylor Hall shot and the game was tied. Corey Perry was able to force Noah Hanifan to turn over the puck. Derick Brassard took over from there finding Hall who shot the puck under the goalieโs left pad at 5:25.
Hall picked up where he left off last spring when he scored seven World Championship goals and finished as the third leading goal scorer in the tournament.
Canada took the lead at 8:48 with Gallagherโs goal. Gallagher gained possession of the puck deep in the USA zone then shuffled a pass on to Ryan OโReilly. OโReilly sent it back to Gallagher who rifled a shot over Kinkaidโs left shoulder. It was his first of the tournament and scored on his birthday.
“It was nice.” Gallagher said of scoring on the day of his birth. “Itโs actually my little sisterโs birthday as well. I texted her and told her Iโd get her one, so thatโs nice.”
Canada outshot Team USA 16-8 in the period with Hall and Gallagher notching three apiece.
Matt Duchene widened the lead at 11:37 of the second period. A rocket from the faceoff circle extended Canadaโs lead to two goals. Duchene accepted a pass from Cody Ceci and showed plenty of patience in taking his time to shoot.
Once Canada found a groove in this game, they really got things rolling. The Americans created their chances but were not able to solve Talbot beyond the first period.
“The guys are getting along great.” Gallagher said of the effort. “Weโre becoming a team as we go along. It was a good start for us. Hopefully as the tournament goes on, weโll get better and better.”
Boone Jenner added a third period tally for good measure. Similar to the goal scored by Hall in the first, Jenner sent a shot in at a sharp angle past Kinkaidโs left pad and skate.
With this battle of North America behind both teams, they now focus on European competition in their quest to advance in this tournament. The US must shake this off and come back tomorrow to play Belarus.
“Thereโs a lot of hockey ahead,” Hendricks said. “Fortunately, we get to play again tomorrow. Itโll be good to go home, get some good food, get some good rest and be ready to go.”
BOXSCORE
1st Period
01:34 – ๐บ๐ธย PEN – Maroon, roughing
03:40 – ๐จ๐ฆย PEN – Jenner, high sticking
04:54 – ๐บ๐ธย PP GOAL – Maroon (Connor, Warsofsky)
05:25 – ๐จ๐ฆย GOAL – Hall (Brassard, Perry)
05:44 – ๐บ๐ธย PEN – Hinostroza, tripping
08:48 – ๐จ๐ฆย GOAL – Gallagher (O’Reilly)
19:14 – ๐บ๐ธย PEN – Maroon, hooking
2nd Period
28:29 – ๐จ๐ฆย PEN – Dumba, slashing
31:37 – ๐จ๐ฆย GOAL – Duchene (Ceci, Murray)
3rd Period
45:54 – ๐จ๐ฆย GOAL – Jenner (O’Reilly)
49:20 – ๐จ๐ฆย PEN – O’Reilly, delay of game
51:16 – ๐จ๐ฆย SH GOAL – Marchand (Duchene)
51:56 – ๐บ๐ธย PEN – Hendricks, roughing
58:30 – ๐บ๐ธย PEN – Wideman, roughing
GOALTENDERS
W: ๐จ๐ฆย Talbot (24-25)
L: ๐บ๐ธย Kinkaid (28-33)
SHOTS ON GOAL
๐จ๐ฆ 16+11+6 = 33
๐บ๐ธ 8+14+3 = 25
ROSTERS
๐จ๐ฆ Goaltenders: Calvin Pickard, Cam Talbot. Defence: Cody Ceci, Matt Dumba, Ben Hutton, Mike Matheson, Ryan Murray, Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev. Forwards: Derick Brassard, Max Domi, Matt Duchene (A), Brendan Gallagher, Taylor Hall, Boone Jenner, Brad Marchand, Connor McDavid, Ryan O’Reilly (A), Corey Perry (C), Sam Reinhart, Mark Scheifele, Mark Stone.
๐บ๐ธ Goaltenders: Mike Condon, Keith Kinkaid. Defence: Noah Hanifin, Jake McCabe, Connor Murphy (A), Steven Santini, Brady Skjei, David Warsofsky, Chris Wideman. Forwards: J.T. Compher, Kyle Connor, Hudson Fasching, Nick Foligno (A), Matt Hendricks (C), Vince Hinostroza, Dylan Larkin, Patrick Maroon, Auston Matthews, Tyler Motte, Jordan Schroeder, Frank Vatrano, Miles Wood.
๐จ๐ฆ CANADA (C) | vs. | UNITED STATES ๐บ๐ธ |
current champion (since 06 May 2015) |
Last Title |
07 May 2012 |
299 | All-Time Wins |
60 |
38 wins | Head-To-Head (+ 3 ties) |
9 wins |
First IHLC Meeting (CAN vs. USA) ๐จ๐ฆย CAN 2-0 USA ๐บ๐ธ โ 25 Apr 1920 โ OG โ Antwerp ๐ง๐ช |
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Previous IHLC Meeting (CAN vs. USA) ๐จ๐ฆย CAN 1-0 USA ๐บ๐ธ โ 21 Feb 2014 โ OG โ Sochi ๐ท๐บ |
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Last IHLC Game ๐จ๐ฆย CAN 3-0 CZE ๐จ๐ฟ โ 03 May 2016 โ EX โ Prague ๐จ๐ฟ |
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Next IHLC Game ๐จ๐ฆย CAN 7-1 HUN ๐ญ๐บ โ 08 May 2016 โ WC โ Saint Petersburg ๐ท๐บ |
Article Credit: IIHF Worlds 2016
Photo Credit: IIHF Worlds 2016 – IIHF – HHOF – IOC