Duchene Scores Twice to Lead Canada to 4-2 Win Over USA

It didn't have the luster that most games have between the two nations, but Team Canada was able to eliminate the Americans from semi-final contention with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday.

The first five minutes couldn't have had more action packed excitement, and it took just 4:22 for the Americans to set the battle of North America on fire. Not too long after Justin Abdelkader was stopped on a good chance, Ryan McDonagh scored on a loose scramble in front of the net. Derek Stepan had the original chance, but but McDonagh was at the doorstep to capitalize on a bouncing puck in front to give the Americans the 1-0 lead.

But the Canadians would score two goals in a 20 second span to make it 2-1. At 5:51, Marc-Edouard Vlasic took a shot right off the back boards with the intention of having someone pick up the puck in front. Matt Duchene was in a perfect spot for that, beating out Dustin Byfuglien for the tying goal.

Then, 20 seconds later, Canada scored again. This time, Logan Couture sent out a pass in front, only to have Jonathan Quick deflect the puck up. Corey Perry, who wasn't an original pick of Canada's prior to the tournament, fought off McDonagh to tip the puck right off his stomach and in for the go-ahead goal in a short period of time.

The Canadians would find the back of the net once again, with Duchene adding his second of the night. A defensive failure by Erik Johnson and Byfuglien allowed Duchene to easily skate past both and go in all alone on Quick, sending a quick shot through the five-hole to make it 3-1 Canada.

Just before the halfway point in the game, Canada found the back of the net once again. This time, John Tavares made Matt Niskanen look like a minor league player with a quick deke between his legs. Tavares then sent the puck towards the net, where Patrice Bergeron was able to re-direct it in for the 4-1 goal. TJ Oshie would score a late one in the third, but it wouldn't matter as their effort fell flat and Canada soared to a 4-2 victory.

Despite the win, Canadian head coach Mike Babcock wasn't fully impressed with his team's effort.

"We weren't as good as we're capable of being tonight," Babcock said.

John Tavares said he and the team are looking forward to fighting for the top seed, but hard work still needs to be done.

"You want to be playing your best hockey going into the next game," Tavares said. "We're always looking for more. The coaching staff is always pushing that."

Patrick Kane offered no excuses for the poor result for the Americans.

"It's definitely frustrating being an American and having these opportunities and have nothing to show for it," Kane said.

Kane said that he doesn't want to repeat the terrible 5-0 performance from the bronze medal game at the 2014 Olympics when USA completes their tournament on Thursday.

"We’re not going to let that mistake happen twice," Kane said, dejected.

“We’re obviously disappointed” said US head coach John Tortorella. “I thought we were ready to play and in the end things just didn’t go our way.”

When asked to assess his team's play after the game, he kept his thoughts short and sweet.

"We lost."

With the loss, the Americans and the Czech's will be the two teams in Group A that will not move on. Instead, Canada and Europe will move on to the semi-finals, but not before finishing off their round robin play on Wednesday night. The Americans will finish off the round robin against Europe in the final game before the playoff round on Thursday.

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