4 Jan
It’s an all-North American final – Canada Vs USA
(AP) The United States rallied to score four unanswered goals Sunday in Saskatoon for a 5-2 victory against Sweden and a spot in the final against Canada. The two rivals will meet Tuesday for world junior gold for the first time since U.S. beat Canada in 2004 because of a fluky goal allowed by Canadian netminder Marc-Andre Fleury.
Canada beat the U.S. 5-4 in a shootout on New Year’s Eve in a game that the U.S. should have won, but suffered a late-game collapse.
“It was a learning experience,” said U.S. captain John Ramage, the son of former NHLer Rob Ramage. “It’s a fun barn with all those fans screaming at us. It’s what I call a good stage-setter.
“Our goal has been to win gold from the start and that’s what we plan to do.”
The U.S. took a 4-2 lead into the final 10 minutes in the round-robin game against Canada, then surrendered goals to Canada’s Jordan Eberle and Alex Pietrangelo, who scored the tying goal while short-handed.
“We’ll use that as motivation,” said U.S. defenceman John Carlson, who scored the game winner against Sweden with 7:26 remaining in the third period.
“The big thing for us is that we have to play a full 60 minutes. We got a little complacent [against Canada last week].”
Ryan Bourque, the son of Ray Bourque and who plays for Patrick Roy’s Quebec Remparts, remarked that the Americans will have to be at their best on Tuesday.
“Obviously, they’ve won five in a row,” he said. “They don’t have many weaknesses. We’re going to have to play a perfect game.”
Jerry D’Amigo tied the game with less than five minutes remaining in the second period. The Swedes managed to kill off a five-minute elbowing major penalty and game misconduct to captain Marcus Johansson and almost scored a short-handed goal at the end of the five-minute disadvantage.
After Carlson put the U.S. ahead in the third period, the Swedes had an opportunity to draw themselves even on a power-play chance. Instead, D’Amigo, a Toronto Maple Leafs prospect, scored a short-handed goal for his second of the game.
A.J. Jenks added an empty-netter for the U.S.
