OTTAWA – Carter George and Team Canada have a tough road ahead, after falling 4-1 to Team U.S.A. at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
George, who hails from Thunder Bay, allowed three of the four goals, all coming on the power play, the loss leaving Canada (2-1-1) in third place in the Group A standings, earning them a quarterfinal date against Czechia (3-0-1), the third-place finisher in Group B.
Cole Hutson, a second-round pick of the Washington Capitals, opened the scoring at 13:02 of the first, one of just five shots the Americans managed to fire George’s way in the opening period.
Neither team lit the lamp in the second, but just shy of two minutes into the third Canada’s Bradly Nadeau netted the equalizer, tying the game at a goal apiece.
The joy was short-lived for the host Canadians.
Danny Nelson put the puck past George at the 4:22 mark of the third. Cole Eiserman made it 3-1 at 13:21 and Ryan Leonard put the game out of reach with an empty netter with 52 seconds left in regulation.
George stopped 24 of 27 shots he faced. His American counterpart, Trey Augustine, allowed one goal on 39 shots.
Canada gave the United States seven power-play opportunities on the night.
Canada’s quarterfinal match against Czechia is set for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The United States, who finished first in Group A, takes on Switzerland, Finland plays Slovakia and Sweden will play Latvia, who beat Canada in a shootout, in the other quarterfinal matches.