– To win against Canada in their own country. I don’t think it can get much better than that, says USA fullback Cole Hutson in the mixed zone this New Year’s Eve.
Canada incurred expulsions and the USA’s first three goals came in that form of play, while the final 4-1 came in an empty net. In the goal, Trey Augustine was clean with 38 of 39 shots saved.
– The coach’s message was simple – use the feeling but don’t get emotional. I thought we handled it really well, says defender Zeev Buium according to the IIHF.
It was the sending offs that sunk Canada to their second loss after the shocker against Latvia.
“We dominated five against five”
– It is frustrating. We fell on our own with all the expulsions. We dominated five on five, so if we had stayed out of the penalty box it probably would have been our game. We took some stupid expulsions. The atmosphere was electric, but it’s disappointing we couldn’t win for the fans, said 17-year-old Gavin McKenna.
It was, as I said, an electric atmosphere in a sold-out Canadian Tire Centre, which was filled by 18,935 spectators (300 more than the official crowd capacity), which forced the NHL team Ottawa Senators to play nine straight away games during the JVM.