North America Wins First Ever World Cup Match

North America had no issues taking control in their first ever World Cup match, beating Finland by a score of 4-1 on Sunday.

There was so much fan excitement surrounding North America. With many of the game's best young stars featured in the lineup, it seemed like it was a good opportunity for the two nations to come together for a one-time international thriller.

For the large crowd in attendance, there couldn't have been a better line to score the first goal of the contest. Around five minutes in, Auston Matthews came in on the wing but was stopped by Pekka Rinne. Connor McDavid would then attempt to poke it in himself, but it would be Jack Eichel finishing off the deed with a quick tap-in that Rinne couldn't keep out of the net.

A few minutes later, North America almost got another one. This time, the puck was shot and actually beat Rinne, but it was a quick reaction from Ville Pokka that was able to sweep the puck away just before it fully crossed the line to keep it a one goal game.

That wasn't the only goal that was disallowed for North America. McDavid, who was the game's most dangerous player in the first, did manage to get the puck over the line fully this time, but Rinne was interfered with before knocking the puck in. The fans in the crowd were to quick to show their displeasure, but the team they were cheering for would get back in the action quick enough.

At the 5:26 mark of the second period, North America would finally get another one that counted for real. This time, Colton Paryako took a shot from just inside the zone, only to have Johnny Gaudreau tip in the almost impossible shot to make it 2-0.

Then, a whole two minutes and one second later, they got on the board again. This time, Rinne made a stop on a Jonathan Drouin snapshot, only to kick the puck back to the Tampa Bay Lightning forward. Drouin had no issue finding the back of the net, tapping the puck past Rinne and in for the 3-0 lead.

North America's dominance continued. In a period that saw Finland completely struggle in their own zone, Nathan Mackinnon made it 4-0 after taking a bouncing puck in the slot and deking Rinne out on the breakaway to put the game seemingly out of reach.

Finland would put an end to Matt Murray's shutout late in the game, however. With four minutes to go, Valtteri Filppula took a pass from Jussi Jokinen in front, easily one-timing it past the Pittsburgh Penguins goalie to get Finland on the board. It didn't matter much for them, however, as North America held on quite easily for the 4-1 victory to stat off their tournament.

McDavid, the third star in the contest, believes there's a lot more the world hasn't seen yet from North America's roster.

"No one really knows what we can do yet," he said. "So we're going to take that role and run with it."

For Matthews, the first overall pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in June, the young American star was on the radar throughout the game by coach Todd McLellan, who had high praise for the forward without a game of NHL experience.

"My eye was on him because I thought he was going to have a hell of a game and he did," McLellan said. "There was no fear of playing him."

North America will be thrust back into action on Monday when the winless Russians take to the ice at 8:00 PM. Finland will have the day off before an important must-win game against Sweden on Tuesday, a 3:00 PM start time.

Follow me on Twitter, @StevenEllisNHL.

 

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