DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES: USA SHUTS OUT CANADA 2-0 IN THE WORLD JUNIORS GOLD MEDAL GAME
Codie McLachlan. Getty Images.
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Alright, boys and girls. The time is finally here. Puck drop is at 9:30 for the 28th and final game of the 2021 World Juniors. USA vs Canada in the gold medal game for the 5th time in tournament history. 60(+) more minutes to decide world dominance. And bad news for Canada--the Americans woke up this morning and are breaking out the 1960 throwbacks tonight.
I've already written everything you need to know heading into this game so we'll skip any more preview. You can read that blog if you missed it right here.
For now? It's go time. Only thing left to do is the damn thing itself. Pitter patter, let's get at 'er. Live blog officially activated.
(Make sure to follow along on Twitter @JordieBarstool for live updates/highlights. I'll be back to update the blog after each period).
End of the 1st: USA 1 - Canada 0
Well the first few minutes of this game were going to be some of the most important. Like I mentioned earlier today, Canada has a bunch of killers on their team who love to get the party started and take that lead within the first 4 minutes. And sure, Canada controlled most of the pace for the early portion of the 1st period, but for the first time in the 2021 World Juniors…
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Canada trails! They bleed! They're human. For the first time all tournament, they give up an even strength goal. And that, my friends, is what happens when you get pucks on net and you have a stallion like Alex Turcotte (LAK) there to deflect it straight to the back of the net. 1-0 good guys.
The Americans are doing a great job at handling all the pressure that Canada is throwing their way, especially after having to kill off a penalty late in the period. But you really can't afford to be taking many more penalties against this team. Because even if they don't score, all that pressure puts USA on their heels and Canada can feed off of that. Need to play some good, smart, hard dick hockey for these next 40 minutes. 3rd periods of this game are always wild so enjoy the "calmness" now.
End of the 2nd: USA 2 - Canada 0
BREAKING: Trevor Zegras (ANA) is a fucking dogggggggggg.
Not even close to one of his most "impressive" goals of this tournament, but the puck always seems to find the best players in the best spots on the ice. These are just the types of gifts the Hockey Gods hand to you when you're that filthy, and Zesus was obviously going to stash this one away. What a deflating goal for the Canadians to give up. Can't be as much fun for them now that they're finally getting tested 5v5…
And again, Canada's offense is coming in waves here. And just like Gordon Bombay was a quarter of an inch away from winning the Minnesota State PeeWee Hockey Championship, Bowen Byram (COL) was a quarter of an inch away from getting Canada on the board.
But Team USA has two things going for them. 1) They're doing a great job at limiting the amount of rebound and extra chances Canada gets after their initial shots. And 2) Spencer Knight (FLA) is really, really fucking good. I can't imagine having to still pay Sergei Bobrovsky $10M for each of the next 6 seasons after watching the performance that both Knight and Levi are putting on tonight. But yeah, fucking love Spencer Knight.
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20 minutes to go here, fellas. But again, the 3rd period in USA vs Canada gold medal games are always total chaos. Best 20 minutes of the tournament coming up here.
3rd Period Updates: USA 2 - Canada 0
Holy fuck! Holy fuck holy fuck holy fuck holy fuck.
Spencer Knight did it. That sick bastard actually did it. The first time that USA and Canada met up in the gold medal game of the World Juniors, Canada shutout the Americans 2-0 in 1997. 24 years later, USA shutouts Canada 2-0 after 33 saves on 33 shots from Spencer Knight.
Unbelievable performance. Unbelievable game. From start to finish, you couldn't have asked for a better game from the Americans. They went up against 20 first rounders in this game and completely shut them down. TWENTY 1st round draft picks on Canada, and USA just did that shit. Hard Dick Hockey through and through. They took advantage of their opportunities. They played hard. They blocked shots. That was just an incredible 60 minutes of hockey. One that we'll remember forever.
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OHHHHHH MAMA DON'T YOU CRYYYYYY
Zegras/Knight 2024.