Connor McDavid blazed up the right wing, out-skating the Russians as he drove the net. The centre, and captain for Team North America, placed a perfect pass right on the stick blade of Auston Matthews back door for the 1-0 lead at 14:46 of the first period.
Matthews was just as impressive, breaking free on the back side for the great feed. It was Matthews' first goal in this building after being taken first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Draft. Mark Scheifele had the secondary assist on the opening tally.
At 5:32 of the second period, McDavid had a breakaway but couldn't finish the play. The Russians then began their surge.
Russia tied the game 9:29 into the second period. Vladislav Namestnikov had his shot pop in past the sprawling Matt Murray.
The North Americans had a rush one way, only to see a 3-on-2 come back the other. Alex Ovechkin lambasted a shot off the post.
Moments later, Nikita Kucherov batted a bouncing puck out of the air and past Murray for the 2-1 lead.
With 6:23 remaining in the second, Evgeny Kuznetsov drove the puck wide and sniped a shot behind Murray to push the lead to 3-1.
The Russian rampage continued at 15:43 of the second. Vladimir Tarasenko whipped a shot from the top of the circle and chased Murray from the net. With Russia up 4-1, North America put John Gibson between the pipes.
At 17:56 of the second, Morgan Rielly stopped the bleeding and gave North America a much needed shot of hope. The defenceman stepped into a shot and found twine to make it 4-2. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Johnny Gaudreau had the helpers.
Immediately following the goal, North America played with some renewed energy and took the puck down the ice for a chance, drawing a penalty shortly thereafter. With the final seconds ticking off the clock, they made a valiant push to pull within one.
However, North America went into the intermission down a pair.