Canada v. US recap...US version

Zukes has said he will give the Canadian side, so while I'm holding my breath for that I'll write up my thoughts...

I thought Mason in net and the Canadian defense clearing the few rebounds he gave up were the key. The US had a lot of firepower, but they were getting no second chance shots. Every time the US would get a decent scoring opportunity, it was swept to the corner before it was a serious threat. No traffic in and around the goalie at that level spells bad things for you on the scoreboard...4-1 bad.

The other thing I noticed, was that once the Canadians went on top, they just wanted it more. As the game wore on, that came through all over the ice. Not that the US kids didn't want it, but they hadn't trailed very much in the tournament so far, so getting behind and staying behind took its toll. Snapping the shutout was a moral victory at best, but moral victories at the World Juniors doesn't win you gold medals.

So, once again on the the bronze medal game for the US kids. They'll play Russia, a team the handled pretty well last week in a 3-2 victory. Can they do it again and get the bronze? We'll find out in the morning. (10am Eastern on the NHL Network.)