Americans Destroy Canada 5-1 to Finish NJEC Tournament

Canada will finish the National Junior Evaluation Camp without a victory, losing 5-1 to the hosts from the United States on Saturday evening.

It took just two minutes for Canada to find themselves down a goal early. Christian Fischer took a shot on net, only to have Connor Ingram kick the puck out to the side. Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Jack Roslovic was in a good spot at the side of the net, however, knocking in the rebound for the 1-0 lead early in the game.

Tyler Parsons, a goaltending prospect in the Calgary Flames organization, had a tremendous first period. A strong effort by the London Knights puck stopper was capitalized with a big stretch save on Anthony Cirelli, denying him point blank on the one-timer to keep the Americans in the lead with over five minutes to go in the first. Parsons had to be big on all 21 of his first period saves, as the Americans, for the third straight game, was struggling to defend their own zone.

Just seconds after killing off a penalty, Canada found themselves down by another goal. This time, Kieffer Bellows made a superb pass in front of the net to Jordan Greenway, who got his second goal of the tournament after deflecting the puck just in front of the crease.

Canada's problems continued. After 5:55 of play in the second, Logan Brown took a wicked slap shot from the point, using Fischer as a good screen in front of the net to make it 3-0 USA. It was the ninth shot for the Americans in the period, who took full advantage of Canada's failure to really show up in the second frame. 

Neither team managed to score in the third period, but Canada eventually took the 4-0 lead. To make Canada's performance look even worse, Clayton Keller took the puck behind the goal line and banked it off of Canadian goaltender Evan Cormier, improving the Americans lead. 

Canada would get one of their own. Just under 40 seconds after the Americans scored, Nicolas Roy sent a weak backhander towards the net, only to have Parsons misplay the shot and allow his first goal of the game. It wouldn't matter, however, as a late-game goal from Brock Boeser meant that Canada would fall 5-1 to the Americans and finish the tournament without a victory.

With the tournament over, Finland finishes with the best record after beating USA in the head-to-head matchup on Friday. The next time Canada and the United States will battle it out will be at the 2017 World Junior Hockey Championships in Toronto, Ontario, when the two teams meet for their annual New Years Eve contest.

Tweets by @eurohockey