Dylan Larkin’s second-period goal held up as the game-winner as the United States beat Canada 3-1 on Saturday in an emotional 4 Nations Face-Off clash in Montreal.
Jake Guentzel scored twice and Larkin also recorded an assist for the Americans in a comeback victory that featured a textbook defensive effort. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves.
The U.S. has won its first two games in the round-robin portion of the tournament and punched its ticket to the final, which will be held on Thursday in Boston.
Connor McDavid scored for Canada, which opened the tournament with an overtime victory against Sweden. Goalie Jordan Binnington stopped 20 shots.
Canada, Finland and Sweden are all tied in the standings with two points apiece. Team USA has six points.
Any questions about what this game meant to both sides were answered with a trio of fights in the first nine seconds of action. Canada’s Brandon Hagel fought Matthew Tkachuk at the drop of the puck, American Brady Tkachuk dropped the gloves with Sam Bennett on the ensuing faceoff and J.T. Miller of the U.S. and Colton Parayko also squared off.
McDavid opened the scoring at the 5:31 mark of the frenetic affair, lifting a backhanded shot into the back of the net to complete a deke on a breakaway.
Guentzel evened the score just under five minutes later when he fired a shot through Binnington’s legs from the left wing, a goal that clearly frustrated the Canadian netminder.
Larkin put the Americans ahead at 13:33 of the second period. Taking advantage of a Team Canada turnover at the offensive blue line, Larkin was sprung on an odd-man rush. He wisely elected to shoot from his off wing and cashed in on the opportunity.
Guentzel added an empty-net goal with 79 seconds remaining in regulation to round out the scoring.
The victory may have come at a high price for Team USA. Matthew Tkachuk played only two shifts in the third period — and none in the final 12:36 of the frame due to an apparent injury. He took the ice testing the issue during television timeouts.
–Field Level Media
