Team USA wins another shootout thriller over Canada at the World Juniors

Casey Mittelstadt dished three assists and Brady Tkachuk scored the clinching shootout goal as Team USA rallied from a two-goal deficit for a thrilling 4-3 victory over Canada at New Era Field. Tkachuk, Scott Perunovich and Kieffer Bellows scored in regulation for the Americans as they rebounded from a shocking upset loss to Slovakia the night before.

Tkachuk and Bellows scored for the U.S. in the shootout, while Jake Oettinger came up big with a trio of saves to put the game away. Oettinger finished with 19 saves on 22 shots in the victory.

The first outdoor game in World Junior Championships history was a snowy scene that clearly had an impact on the game. Bellows said during the second period intermission that the ice quality wasn’t great, and you could see players being forced to keep it simple as a result of the outdoor conditions.

Between the weather and coming off a game the night before, it was a tough series of circumstances for the U.S. However, the team showed its toughness after falling behind much of the afternoon with a third-period rally that will go into the history books alongside the first outdoor WJC game ever.

Perunovich and Tkachuk scored in the third period to push the game beyond regulation. Mittelstadt was involved on the team’s first three goals of the night. The U.S. finished the game with a 35-22 advantage in shots on goal, and largely played well outside of some penalty killing issues early on.

Canada’s initial lead resulted from a pair of goals on the power play. The first came from Colorado prospect Cale Makar, who got some space high in the circle and fired a shot through Oettinger’s five hole that displayed his impressive shooting touch. It started snowing just as the Avalanche first-round pick scored, which seemed appropriate.

The second came from team captain Dillon Dube after the U.S. failed to capitalize on a power play of their own. The Flames prospect uncorked a beautiful shot through a narrow window to extend the lead to 2-0.

It wouldn’t be until a 5-on-3 power play in the second period that Bellows scored the Americans’ first goal of the game. The Islanders prospect made a nice little hesitation move to find the space for a perfect shot to give the Americans new life in the snowy stadium.

Canada got one back quickly after that when Boris Katchouk scored on a deflection at the end of a wild scramble, but the Americans would largely take over the game after that. Perunovich and Tkachuk scored less than a minute apart in the third period to tie the game, then the U.S. successfully killed a penalty right after that when Canada was given a chance to respond.

The victory puts the U.S. in a much more favorable position in Group A after the 3-2 upset loss to Slovakia. The team is now second in the group with a 1-1-0-1 record and should avoid finishing fourth, which would mean a potential matchup against Sweden or Russia to open the playoff stage.

That’s a massive improvement in the Americans’ standing compared to where they’d be with a second loss in two days. This was an impressive rebound effort by the Americans on short rest, in snowy weather, and against one of the best teams in the tournament. The first outdoor game in WJC history lived up to the hype.