2025 World Juniors: Top standouts as USA beats Canada 4-1

OTTAWA – You wanted electricity? You got electricity.

Canada and the United States met for the highly anticipated New Year’s Eve game at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa Tuesday night, with the Americans skating out to a 4-1 victory.

With the win, the United States has secured the top spot in Group A and will play Switzerland in the quarterfinal on Thursday. Canada will finish third in the group and will play Czechia.

The game started as fast-paced and aggressive as you’d expect, with both teams getting overly physical. The Americans would take advantage of Canada’s penalty issues early, with Cole Hutson breaking the ice on the power play off a great shot from the point – ending Carter George’s tournament-long shutout streak.

The game was very chippy from there, with both teams struggling to stay out of the box. Canada eventually was able to take advantage when Bradly Nadeau scored on a one-timer on the power play early in the third to make it 1-1.

The tie didn’t last for long. Just three minutes later, at 44:22, Danny Nelson took Hutson’s feed and converted, putting the Americans back in front. Undisciplined play prevented Canada from generating much momentum in the offensive zone. It became even harder when Cole Eiserman scored on the power play to make it 3-1 late in the first, with Ryan Leonard scoring an empty-netter at 58:08 to finish things off.

Canada

#12 Jett Luchanko, C (Philadelphia Flyers): What will it take for coach Dave Cameron to play Luchanko more? He was the team’s best penalty killer and nobody could contain his speed. Every time he hit the ice, you noticed him – but he fell to Canada’s 13th forward spot. What does he need to do to prove he deserves more ice time?

#11 Brayden Yager, C (Winnipeg Jets): While I do wish Yager could pick his passes better, he was great on the controlled entries and rarely lost puck possession on his own. For him, it was all about containing the puck as much as possible and setting guys up. His 5-on-5 play was great, but he was best on the power play, where his no-look pass to Bradly Nadeau paved the way for the 1-1 goal.

#20 Ethan Gauthier, RW (Tampa Bay Lightning): I’ve been critical about Gauthier’s play at points over the past week, but this was his most noticeable game. He was landing hits, was great on the penalty kill and even generated some good rushes. There wasn’t much to talk about regarding his game with the puck but I thought he played well away from it.

USA

#1 Trey Augustine, G (Detroit Red Wings): Augustine had a rough go in his first few starts but was downright dominant early on today. He made 20 stops, including many on the glove side after struggling with that against the Finns. I thought his ability to stay calm and collected in scrambles was crucial as Canada kept trying to crash the net throughout the second period.

#28 Zeev Buium D (Minnesota Wild): Buium did a bit of everything from the point. He drew penalties, outskated just about anyone with his excellent edges and made some great passes with the puck. In typical Buium fashion, we rarely saw him getting beat in 1-on-1 situations.

#9 Ryan Leonard, RW (Washington Capitals): Leonard was involved in everything in the offensive zone. From getting physical to rushing the puck toward the net and generating plays, Leonard was the best player on the top American line tonight. He also was pushing anyone who got near him, including Canadian goalie Carter George.

#24 Cole Hutson, D (Washington Capitals): Hutson was buzzing early, making some of the better defensive decisions that we’ve seen from him at this tournament. He then scored the opening goal before creating the 2-1 goal with some excellent movement along the point. That was especially important given how he played arguably his worst game of the tournament against the Finns.