Canada holds on against USA to claim 1st in Group A

There was a carnival-like air in the time leading up to the last game of Group A at Malmö Isstadion, and the crowd of 3882 -- which included at least 3000 Canadians -- got their money's worth.

The Americans dominated most of the first period and scored the then opened the scoring early in the second, then the Canadians dominated the rest of the middle frame and tied it. The Canadians took over in the third with a pair before the US came up with a late surge to get one goal back, but not two.

The first nine minutes were all USA, but thanks to goaltender Zachary Fucale, it remained tied. 

"For a goalie it's always better when you face some shots," said the Canadian player of the game, who stopped 24 of 26 in the game. "I was lucky to make a few saves early and that got me in it and the boys took over after that and we got the win."

After the Canadians killed off the game's first penalty to Bo Horvat, they got their game together and the rest of the period was pretty even.

The Americans opened the scoring early in the second period on a Riley Barber wraparound. Although it was technically a shorthanded goal, it was scored at the very second the Canadian penalty expired, so they were not at a numerical disadvantage on the ice. 

The Canadians started pushing back, though. First Jonathan Drouin hit the goalpost, then Bo Hortvat hit the crossbar just past the game's midpoint. Finally, in the 33rd minute, they tied it. 

Anthony Mantha was being hauled down in the slot, and the referee's arm shot into the air for a delayed penalty. As he went down, though, he shoveled the puck over to Nic Petan, who fired it into the open side ahead of a diving Jon Gillies.

In the third period, Canada took the lead. Their power play had just expired, but they kept the pressure down low and Horvat sent it out front to Connor McDavid, who took two or three whacks at it before it finally got past Gillies and into the net for his first goal of the tournament.

"I didn't really know it went in at first, but obviously the crowd was pretty loud and the boys were pretty fired up, so it feels good to finally get one," the 16-year-old said afterward. 

Just over a minute later, Canada went right back to the power play when Stefan Matteau was called for tripping in the neutral zone and this time they got a power-play goal proper. The Canadians passed it around the perimeter and the play finished with Jonathan Drouin down low feeding Curtis Lazar in front, who one-touched it in. 

Canada had a 3-1 lead with 13:47 remaining.

The Americans started to push, though.

First Adam Erne tried to force one in the near side that Fucale kept out, though video replay was needed to confirm that. Then defenceman Connor Carrick got a breakaway just after the expiration of a penalty and tried to beat Fucale with a forehand deke, but was denied. 

Finally, with 2:45 to play, they got one back, and it was a strange one. On a three-on-two rush, Hudson Fasching passed across to Matteau, whose shot hit the stick of Adam Pelech, then went off Furcale's glove and in the net.

"I don't really know how it went in," said the son of former NHLer Stéphane Matteau. "'Fasch' gave me a nice pass and I was just trying to get it on net and took a bit of a bounce and went in. Whatever, we'll take whatever we can get. It gave the team a bit of of a spark and we almost put one in at the end."

The Americans needed only to tie the game in regulation to earn first place in the group, but they just couldn't do it. They had a few shots at Furcale, but he kept it out, and the Canadians held on to win the game and the group.

"It sucks to lose, but we're not that worried about it," said Barber afterward. "The real tournament starts now."

Indeed it does. Both teams will now play their quarterfinal games at the Isstadion on Thursday -- first the Americans will face off against Russia, followed by Canada against Switzerland.

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