Leading to Tuesday night’s gold medal final against the United States, team Canada never trailed during the World Junior Championships. That is, until 13:25 of the first period when the US’s Alex Turcotte scored for the United States, assisted by Drew Helleson and Trevor Zegras.
Turcotte tips it into the top corner #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/V4r2cSbiWA
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 6, 2021
At 20:32 of the second period the US’s Alex Zegras, the star of the tournament from Boston University, scored a second goal for the United States assisted by Arthur Kaliyev. The Canadians started to buzz the last ten minutes of the period but were stoned by goaltender Spencer Knight.
It's Zegras time ⌚️ USA leads 2-0 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/4piKsR4eNR
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 6, 2021
The two-goal US lead led to a frenetic third period as a desperate Canadian side pushed forward at every opportunity. Canada could never solve Knight or the US defense.
Earlier in the tournament, in USA’s Game 3 against the Czechs, Brink was named Player of the Game backed by his two-goals. In the gold medal final, Brink gave Canada a powerplay in the first period but the USA withstood the shorthanded pressure. In the end, Brink made several critical shot-blocks in the third period to help secure the US victory.
Photo: Courtesy Team USA Hockey
Congrats to Brink and Team USA on the gold. What a game last night, and what a tournament for those guys. It was interesting…..they stumbled out of the gate, losing to Russia in their first game, but then steamrolled their next 3 opponents by an combined score of 22-0. They beat a very good and gritty Finnish team in the semis and were definitely the underdog against Canada last night. Team USA played a very strong first period to set the tone, had some opportunistic scoring, and were able to play effectively with the lead. Spencer Knight was terrific between the pipes, and he and then team withstood a strong push by the Canadians late the game to close it out. That was a lot of fun.
I’ve said it before and I’ll continue saying it: if you’re a hockey fan, regardless of level, this tournament is must-see TV. It’s one of my favorite events of the entire sports year. The best under-20 players in the world, donning the jerseys of their home country, and battling it out in a very frenzied, high intensity setting over a period of 11 days or so. Great stuff.
This is pure hockey indeed. Brink’s role in the tourney was to be a defensive force on the third line, but he also did pretty well in the o-zone on the forecheck. The penalty he took was not very avoidable, as was reaching for the puck when he tripped the Canadian player.
Zegras was a force of nature – he took over the game for 10 minutes in the late first and early second, scoring one and creating the other US goal, against Canada’s top players, too. That was all they would need, and from there it was a textbook shutdown defense mode, keeping Canada on the perimeter for most of the rest of the game.