Canada’s World Junior team dropped its Boxing Day match versus the Ron Wilson-coached U.S. squad in decidedly underwhelming fashion.
With our tryptophan-induced comas slowly wearing off, turkey-stuffed Canadians across the nation settled in front of their shiny new flat screens in anticipation of a classic battle against their North American rivals to the south.
WJHC: Canada Must Show More Urgency
These games tend to be rather impassioned affairs marked by tough board battles and gritty net-front scrums. This one proved to be more of a collection of full-contact drills than a heated clash between rivals, with nowhere near enough desperation or intensity coming from either bench. Fourth-liner Julien Gauthier showed some urgency on the first Canadian by goal centering a loose puck while on his knees in the corner that Matthew Barzal rifled home, but ultimately his second effort did little to inspire his teammates to follow suit.
While it is still early in the tourney, Canada’s juniors will have to rethink their strategy after being rocked by the U.S., who did a good job of capitalizing on Canada’s repeated carelessness in their own zone.
Canadians are accustomed to watching their boys waltz through the first sixty minutes of this annual tournament against a noticeably inferior opponent, usually approaching double digits on the scoreboard. Niagara Ice Dogs goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic had other plans however, and proved to be the obvious standout for the American squad, making numerous timely saves from high-percentage scoring areas throughout the contest.
The standout for the team in red was 2015 third-overall selection Dylan Strome, drafted last June by the Arizona Coyotes. Strome knotted the game at a pair with his powerplay wrister from the hash marks, after Canada failed to convert on a five-minute man-advantage due to Alex DeBrincat’s first-period ejection for spearing Travis Konecny late in the first.
The chemistry between Strome and Leafs prospect Mitch Marner, who assisted on his third period goal, is apparent and will only get stronger, however the focus needs to be on capitalizing on rebounds and creating pressure as opposed to looking for that perfect shot opportunity. Bar-down is great, but more pucks on net and traffic in front will go further to win hockey games than sharp-shooting.
The Americans did an excellent job of having good, strong sticks ready to clear away rebounds and curtail second and third chances throughout the contest. Loose pucks in the slot and in the corners were routinely recaptured and moved out of harm’s way without much of a challenge from the Canadians, whose 27 shots fired consisted mainly of primary attempts, albeit from desirable areas. Head coach Dave Lowry surmised as follows:
“They took pucks to the net more than we did…we passed up some good opportunities…we worked, and we just didn’t generate enough.” (source: Toronto Star)
Heavyweight hockey analyst Bob McKenzie characterized the loss during the TSN broadcast as “death by a thousand cuts,” as opposed to one or two catastrophic events, and that’s an apt description of a Canadian team that didn’t do enough to control the flow of the game, which was ultimately decided by a pair of third period gaffes including a loose puck that squirted through Mason MacDonald’s pads on the goal line which was summarily tapped in by Auston Matthews, and an ill-planned attempt to block a point shot coming off the stick of defender Joe Hicketts.
While it may be tempting to hang the loss on starting goaltender McDonald, the Calgary Flames prospect was hardly responsible for numerous blown assignments and brain cramps which led to the U.S. coming away with the win.
Canada was not terrible, but their lack of urgency and their inability to make better use of big bodies like Lawson Crouse and Gauthier – players with the physical tools to establish a heavy forecheck and a strong net presence – that may cost them going forward. The Canadian game is characterized as much by heart and willingness to gut it out as it is by high skill and superior structure. Precious little of those qualities were on display today.
Final score: 4-2 Team U.S.A.
Their next contest comes versus Denmark on the 29th.
