Carlson lifts U.S. to junior hockey championship
John Carlson scored in overtime to give the United States a 6-5
victory over Canada in the world junior hockey championship on
Tuesday night.
Carlson beat goaltender Martin Jones on a 3-on-1 after U.S.
goalie Jack Campbell made a save at the other end. It was the
second goal of the game for Carlson, on loan to the U.S. team by
his American Hockey League team in Hershey.
Carlson told TSN he gave his teammates a pep talk heading
into OT.
"I said 'If you guys were to tell me at the beginning of the
tournament that we'd be here right now going into overtime right
now for the gold medal, anyone in the locker room would have taken
it,''' Carlson said. "So I think the camaraderie really helped and
we really pulled together there and squeaked out a win.''
The U.S. got some revenge for a 5-4 shootout loss against
Canada on New Year's Eve that gave the hosts a bye to the
semifinals. The Americans also led that game by two goals before
allowing Canada to send it to overtime.
"They're a feisty team, they're a great team and it was
unbelievable playing them on New Year's Eve and now here it was
just play our game,'' Carlson said. "We know they're going to get
chances and score goals, that's how good they are. We just needed
to play our game and tonight it worked out.''
Canada was trying to win the tournament for a record sixth
consecutive time. Tuesday's final was the first between the two
countries since 2004, when the U.S. rallied in Helsinki, Finland,
for its first gold medal in the tournament.
Chris Kreider, Jordan Schroeder, Jerry D'Amigo and team
captain Derek Stepan also scored for the U.S., who had
underachieved in this tournament in recent years with bigger names
and more first-round NHL draft picks in the lineup.
The U.S. held a selection camp prior to this tournament for
the first time instead of simply selecting 22 players for its team.
Canada has held selection camps for decades and the practice
seemed to help the U.S. as it played a more cohesive team game in
the tournament.
Canada never led in the championship, but Jordan Eberle
scored a pair of goals in the final three minutes to force
overtime.
"We battled back the hole game but they just kept coming,''
Eberle told TSN. "It's not easy. We showed the heart that we had to
come back. It's just tough to lose on home ice like this.''
Luke Adam, Greg Nemisz and Taylor Hall also scored for Canada
in front of a sellout crowd of 15,171 at Credit Union Centre.
"Everyone's bummed out,'' Canada defenseman Ryan Ellis said.
"We got so close and it didn't happen for us. But everyone's
sticking together. We're a close team and we've got our heads up
high.
"It's tough, especially coming back the way we did. We shot
ourselves in the foot a bit (early on).''
Canadian goaltender Jake Allen was pulled after the
Americans' fifth goal early in the third, replaced by Jones. Allen
made 23 stops, and Martin made eight saves.
U.S. starter Mike Lee didn't fare much better, leaving early
in the second after yielding three goals on seven shots. Campbell
finished with 32 saves in relief.
Allen's sloppy play allowed the U.S. to take a 5-3 early in
the third. The puck bobbled out in front of the Canadian goalie as
he tried to glove it. Stepan caught Canada's defense flat-footed
and raced in to bang the puck in.
The 2011 world junior hockey championship will be held in
Buffalo, N.Y., before returning to Canada in 2012.
Notes: Canada is 27-6-3 against the U.S. at the
world junior hockey championship. ... The U.S. captured the World
Under-17 Challenge on Monday by beating Canada-Ontario 2-1 in
Timmins, Ontario.
