Americans Win WJAC Following Shutout Over Canada East

The United States of America have won the 2016 World Junior A Challenge for the seventh time following a 4-0 decision over Canada East on Saturday in Bonnyville, Alberta.

USA came in with a slight advantage, having scored 13 goals in two elimination games prior to Saturday. Before that, USA was able to win the first meeting between the two teams, beating Canada East in a rather uneventful 3-1 contest to finish off the round robin on Tuesday.

Their skill was evident right off the bat. Most of the dangerous scoring chances came from the team in red, white and blue, but Stefano Cantali was up to the task. That was until the opening period hit the final minute, where the Americans found a way to beat Cantali for the 1-0 lead. Nick Swaney would break the ice, sending a hard wrist shot from outside the slot, with the puck just trickling in between Cantali’s blocker and hip before slowly crossing over the line for the early lead.

The Americans knew they could put Canada in a tough hole if they could just get one goal early in the second, and it happened. Alex Limoges took advantage of a defensive error to score on the breakaway with just under three minutes completed in the second period to give the Americans the two-goal advantage.

The New York Islanders knew they had a good prospect in Collin Adams, and he typically doesn’t need much help when given a chance with the puck. So it was no surprise that after Canada gave away the puck in their own zone, Adams would make the host nation pay by scoring top corner on Cantali, putting the Americans further ahead with the 3-0 lead.

Canada simply didn’t bring their A game on Saturday, and it getting clearer every minute that they weren’t going to win. With 9:26 left in the second, Ethan Frank stole the puck behind the net and beat Cantali on the wraparound before the Canadian goaltender even had a second to react to the play. Canada had no chance of catching back up, with the Americans easily taking the 4-0 victory to win the gold medal on Canadian soil.

With the win, the Americans were able to improve to 7-0 in the gold medal at the World Junior A Challenge, with their last victory coming at the 2014 tournament following a 3-2 overtime victory over Denmark. It also is the second straight time USA beat Canada East for a medal, with the Americans taking the bronze medal back in 2015 in Whitby.

Follow me on Twitter, @StevenEllisNHL.

Tweets by @eurohockey