The first 10 minutes of play saw much of the action in the neutral zone while both teams tried to establish their styles of play.
Bobby Brink (Excelsior, Minn.) generated the first quality scoring opportunity for Team USA at the 12:30 mark. With the U.S. sustaining pressure, Brink caught the puck at the top of the crease, stickhandled around a poke-check and tried to stuff the puck at the left post but the pad of Canadian goaltender Olivier Rodrigue was there to make the save.
Just over a minute later, K’Andre Miller (Minnetonka, Minn.) went coast-to-coast before using a Canadian defenseman as a screen to fire a quick-wristed chance toward the top-right corner, but Rodrigue’s glove was there to make the save.
Canada converted with 7:49 to play in the frame off a powerplay goal from Joe Veleno. The play started at the blueline where Nolan Foote tried sending a pass through the slot that deflected down low to Kirby Dach who was able to swipe a pass back to Veleno at the far post for a tap-in goal.
The U.S. generated a series of chances to close out the frame – including a pair of back-to-back chances by Trevor Zegras (Bedford, N.Y.) and Caufield- but entered the first intermission trailing, 1-0.
Seven minutes into the middle frame, Miller was again behind another quality scoring chance for Team USA. After receiving the puck at the blue line, he wired a hard pass towards the far post where Jack Drury (Winnetka, Ill.) was waiting for a redirected shot that was padded behind goal. Picking up his own rebound, Drury fed the puck at the right post where John Beecher (Elmira, N.Y.) tried lifting a shot over Rodrigue’s outstretched pad but the chance wouldn’t go.
Two minutes later, Canada nearly doubled its lead off a two-on-one opportunity between Alex Newhook and Nolan Foote, but U.S. netminder Dustin Wolf (Tustin, Calif.) was able to slide from left-to-right across the crease and make the save.
Canada converted on its next scoring opportunity midway through the period, this time Veleno feeding Dach for his first goal of the Showcase and a 2-0 Canada lead.
The third period opened with Caufield bringing the U.S. within one with a powerplay tally. Just 43 seconds into the stanza, Caufield collected a pass at the top of the left circle from Cam York (Anaheim Hills, Calif.), sent it down low to Boldy who returned a pass back to Caufield for a quick-wristed shot that snuck over the shoulder of Canada’s Hunter Jones.
Canada answered less than two minutes later when Foote collected a loose puck in the slot, spun towards goal and fired a shot through traffic and over the glove of Wolf.
Caufield nearly scored his second of the game five minutes into the period when Joel Farabee (Cicero, N.Y.) lifted a pass towards the crease and over a sliding Canadian defender where Caufield’s one-timer was blocked by Jones.
Canada’s final tally came on Dach’s second goal of the game. Foote made a pass to Alexis Lafreniere, whose initial shot was blocked. The rebound came to Dach who tucked it into the far side, making it 4-1.
