Americans Erase Poor Start to Win Opening World Championship Game

With a stronger lineup than usual, the United States of America have won their first game of the 2018 World Hockey Championships in Denmark after defeating Canada 5-4 in the shootout to open the tournament on Friday.

Canada didn't even need a full minute to score the first goal of the tournament. Pierre-Luc Dubois, leading Canada's fourth line, scored his first goal for Team Canada since the 2014 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge when he snapped a quick shot past New Jersey Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid, getting the game started in a quick fashion to but the team that made it to the finals in three consecutive tournaments on top.

Canada was dominant at the start, holding a 9-1 shot advantage in the opening ten minutes. But it would be Canada's tenth shot that would put them up by two after Josh Bailey was stopped on a breakaway scoring chance. The puck made it out to Ryan O'Reilly, who spun around in front of the crease and tucked the puck in into the empty cage, doubling Canada's advantage at 12:23.

But just over a minute later, USA got one of their own. Anders Lee would make it 2-1 after taking a nice chip pass from Tage Thompson in the neutral zone and rushing towards the net. Lee, one of USA's best players at the 2015 World Championships, fired a clean wrist shot over the blocker arm of Darcy Kuemper, cutting USA's deficit by one.

The Americans needed just 43 seconds to tie the game up in the second. Dylan Larkin would tap in a great pass from Chris Kreider in front of the net, tapping the puck past Kuemper to make it 2-2 off of a pretty play.

The Americans fully erased their bad start after scoring the go-ahead goal at the exact halfway point in the game. Johnny Gaudreau would finish off the slick passing play between Patrick Kane and Blake Coleman by sending a wrist shot blocker side on Kuemper, a shot the Calgary Flames forward would never miss under any circumstance to make it 3-2. It was their third goal on eight shots, a surprising number given how fast the team is.

New York Islanders fans may not like the fact that they're team didn't make the playoffs once again, but after Lee scored in the first, it was fitting to see another Islander score, this time for Canada. After Aaron Ekblad held the puck at the blue line, the Florida Panthers defenceman sent the puck to the net where Islanders forward Jordan Eberle was in front creating havoc. The puck would bounce out to Anthony Beauvillier, who'd knock the disk over Kinkaid to make it 3-3 heading into the second intermission.

While Kinkaid was having a strong game, making 28 saves in the opening 40 minutes alone, Kuemper was struggling to get the job done for Canada. Larkin would score his second goal of the night on USA's 12th shot of the contest, giving the Americans their second lead of the game at 43:27.

But Canada would fight back. At 10:48 in the third, Connor McDavid would set up Colton Parayko in the slot, with the St. Louis Blues defenceman sending the puck through Kinkaid's five-hole to make it 4-4 in a game that didn't lack action.

The battle would require a shootout to decide the winner. Canada had to get creative in the skills competition after McDavid (4-for-6 for the Oilers this season) was forced to sit in the penalty box due to a penalty late in overtime. Cam Atkinson of the Columbus Blue Jackets came up huge for the Americans, scoring two shootout goals to give the Americans the win, a 5-4 victory to kick off the tournament.

The win was the first for the Americans against Canada at the World Hockey Championships since 2012, a game that also resulted in extra time to decide a 5-4 contest. USA won't have much time to rest as they'll be taking on Team Denmark at 20:15 local time on Saturday afternoon. Canada will get an extra day to prepare for their meeting with South Korea, their first in the history of the World Hockey Championships.

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Photo from Anders Marshall/Euro Hockey

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