USA defeats Canada 4-1 in world juniors NYE matchup, clinch 1st place in Group A

The United States defeated Canada 4-1 on New Year’s Eve in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships to clinch first place in their group.

Cole Hutson, Danny Nelson, and Cole Eiserman capitalized with three power-play goals. Ryan Leonard scored an empty netter to seal the win for the Americans. Bradly Nadeau scored Canada’s lone goal in the third period.

Canada had a couple of good looks on its first-man advantage and continued to push the pace until penalty trouble led to three straight U.S. power plays.

The loss dropped Canada to third place in Group A behind Finland and the USA.

“Beating them in their home country, I don’t think it gets much better than that,” said Hutson after the game.

Canada was called for 12 penalties on the night, including four minors in the third period.

“If I had an answer, I would tell you, but I don’t think I really do,” said Canada defenceman Sam Dickinson, who spent four minutes in the penalty box on Tuesday night. “It kind of got in the way of the game today.

“Penalties are penalties. Again, I’m not going to lose sleep over them or anything. Calls [were] made, and I had to deal with them,” Dickinson added.

Canada’s road to gold goes through Czechia

Later Tuesday, Sweden finished first in Group B with a gritty 4-2 win over Czechia. Sweden won all four of its preliminary-round games.

The Canadians will next play Czechia, the reigning bronze medalists, in the quarterfinals. The Czechs eliminated Canada in the quarterfinals one year ago.

The USA will play Switzerland. The other quarterfinal matchups include Sweden versus Latvia and Finland versus Slovakia.

Canada and the U.S. played in the same building exactly 16 years to the day at the 2009 event when John Tavares scored a memorable hat trick in the hosts’ 7-4 comeback victory on New Year’s Eve. The Canadians would eventually go on to win a fifth straight gold.

The Toronto Maple Leafs centre told reporters in Toronto he’s been keeping an eye on Canada’s world junior efforts.

“It’s been an interesting tournament,” Tavares said Monday. “Credit to them and the way they played [against Germany] and stuck with it.

“A lot of noise with how the game finished up against Latvia.”

With files from The Canadian Press