Last Sunday, the Canadians took down the United States 2-1 and put them on the brink of elimination from the knockout round. Four days later, the two squads meet again in the semi-finals with an opportunity to take home the top prize in the competition.
When Canada took on the Americans last Sunday, the United States had just come off a heart breaking 2-1 loss to Russia in which they dominated the majority of the game. After the Canadian tilt, the Americans had to win against Slovakia in order to avoid the relegation round for the second straight year. They did just that with a resounding 9-3 win that turned out to be a coming out party for the team. The following day, the United States took on the Czech Republic in the quarter finals; a matchup that featured a surprising Czech team. The Americans made sure there were no further questions about their potency in what turned out to be a massive blowout. American John Gaudreau was the main catalyst and scored a hat trick throughout the match. He scored the first goal of the match at the 11:45 mark of the first and then added the second at the 28 second mark of the second. He also score his third with just 13 seconds to go in the second to finish off a five goal second period from the United States that also featured goals from Ryan Hartman and Riley Barber (two goals). In the third JT Miller added the seventh while John Gibson pitched the shutout with 31 saves.
The Canadians got the day off after taking down mighty Russia on Monday. Dougie Hamilton and Mark Schiefele scored the opening goals for Canada and Jonathan Drouin and Jonathan Huberdeau scored the latter two as the team cruised to a 4-1 win over the home team and earned the top spot in Group B. Malcolm Subban continues to prove his worth as the top goalie for Canada and made 21 saves in the match.
Canadian Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leads all scorers with 11 points in four matches, but four Americans are in the top ten in scoring for the tournament. Jacob Trouba and Alex Galchenyuk have eight points, but the former has four goals. Seth Jones has seven points and John Gaudreau has six for the United States.
While the last match likely featured a tentative American side, this one will feature a confident one that has scored 16 times in their last two. The Canadians will be rested however and that alone could help them over an American side that has not rested since Saturday.
Prediction: Canada will win this, but look for an open high-scoring game. 5-4 Canada.
Start Time: 4 AM EST
TV Info: TSN