U.S. junior hockey wins gold over Canada
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.
"He's one special player. Keep your eyes on him," U.S.
captain Derek Stepan said of Carlson. "He's going to be in the NHL
for a long time."
Carlson credited the rapport with his teammates for the win.
"You look at a guy like Jordan Schroeder. He's been here for
three years and hasn't won it," Carlson said. "It's my first time.
It's something I'll never forget. The camaraderie we have in the
room kept us going."
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.
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.
"It's unfortunate we didn't get to make history," Canadian
forward Taylor Hall said.
Chris Kreider, Jerry D'Amigo, Schroeder and 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.
"We played Canadian hockey," coach Dean Blais said. "We
played gritty. We learned from the best. It's not an accident you
guys have won five straight gold medals."
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.
"I didn't want a bunch of fancy Dans who wouldn't play both
ends and were cocky and arrogant and I didn't have that team,"
Blais said. "We picked guys with good character and yeah, we got a
few breaks, but win or lose, I think we had the right guys here."
Canada never led in the championship, but Jordan Eberle
scored a pair of goals in the final three minutes to force
overtime.
The Edmonton Oilers prospect was selected the tournament's
most valuable player, but the honor felt hollow to him.
"It was almost tough going into the dressing room before
overtime because we were on such a high and we wanted to stay out
there and play," Eberle said. "Overtime, anything can happen. A
bounce here and they get a 3-on-1 and obviously it was a great
shot."
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 Jones had 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.
