The United States showcased a suffocating defense and dynamic special teams in a 3-1 win against Canada to take first place in Group B at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship at Air Canada Centre on Saturday.
Jordan Greenway (Minnesota Wild), Colin White (Ottawa Senators) and Jeremy Bracco (Toronto Maple Leafs) scored and Joseph Woll (Toronto Maple Leafs) made 25 saves for the United States.
Defenseman Thomas Chabot (Ottawa Senators), who logged a game-high 27:45 of ice time, scored for Canada.
The win was the first in seven tries against Canada on New Year's Eve since 2000.
Canada entered the game with the top power play in the tournament (8-of-14, 57 percent), but finished 1-for-6 against the U.S., scoring its only goal on the second of two 5-on-3 advantages.
"We made some changes with penalty killers because we weren't sharp on the PK in past games," U.S. coach Bob Motzko said. "We added more guys to spread the minutes out. That was critical because we quieted the building down. The penalty kill was the story of the game."
The U.S. scored two power-play goals in the first period, by White at 4:31 and Greenway at 6:04, to take a 2-0 lead. Chabot scored 8:12 into the second during a 5-on-3 advantage.
"They're a good neutral zone team," Canada captain Dylan Strome said. "They knew how to get pucks behind our defense. We've got to find a way to create more. We were surviving on our power play, and when our power play isn't clicking we have to find a way to create more 5-on-5."