USA vs. Canada live stream, World Juniors 2017: Start time, TV schedule, and how to watch online

The Hockey Gods have blessed us with a fun 2017 World Junior Championship, and now they’ve bestowed a tantalizing matchup for us on New Year’s Eve.

The United States and Canada will square off at 3:30 p.m. ET in Toronto’s Air Canada Centre to determine the winner of Group B. The two hockey rivals sit atop the group standings with matching 3-0 records and nine points apiece, meaning they’re all but through to the quarterfinal rounds.

Both have succeeded in what has ended up as the weaker of the two groups. While Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Finland have battled against the surprising Denmark and Switzerland, it’s been smooth sailing for Canada and the United States. Latvia and Slovakia have proven no challenge, and Russia has been a disappointment so far.

Team USA began the tournament with wins over Latvia and Slovakia by a combined score of 11-3 before narrowly edging out Russia on Thursday in a 3-2 affair. Clayton Keller leads the Americans with five points and three goals, though the U.S. has spread the goal-scoring wealth around a bit compared to previous years.

Canada, meanwhile, is the most impressive team in the tournament. They lead the World Juniors with 20 goals, the best scoring efficiency (17.24 percent), the best power play (57 percent) and the second-best penalty kill (92 percent).

The winner of Saturday’s game (and thus, the winner of Group B) will play the fourth-best team in Group A. That will likely be either Switzerland, Finland, or the Czech Republic. The loser will play the third-place team in Group A, which will either be the Czech Republic, Denmark, or Switzerland.

3:30 p.m. ET | Group B Preliminary Round

Air Canada Centre | Toronto

TV: NHL Network, TSN

Streaming: TSNGO (Canada only)