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Grimaldi And Trocheck With A Chance To Be Golden As US Slams Canada

Florida Panther prospects Rocco Grimaldi and Vincent Trocheck drew assists on a first period goal by defenseman Jake McCabe that made the score 2-0 as the United States dogged Canada 5-1 in semifinal action from the 2013 World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia. McCabe also scored the opening goal of the game.

Trocheck played another solid two-way game. He fired two shots on goal, won 14/19 draws and finished with a +1 rating.

Grimaldi had an uneven game and looked frustrated at times but his overall play seemed to take a step forward in the third period. He finished the tilt with three shots on goal and a +1 rating. He created some nice chances but also turned over the puck a few times.

Canada’s Jonathan Huberdeau had a poor game, finishing with an ugly -4 rating. He did create a few nice scoring chances but his team-mates failed to convert. Huberdeau’s unwillingness to try and score goals in the tournament has been a bit disappointing. He only had one shot on goal and didn’t seem very interested in back-checking.

John Gaudreau, who is emerging as the scoring star on Team USA, notched two more goals and added an assist.

Ty Rattie scored shorthanded in the third period to provide Canada with their only goal.

The USA will meet the winner of today’s Sweden – Russia match for the gold medal on Saturday. Canada will take on the loser of that game for the bronze medal.

This game was not even close. The Americans dominated from start to finish except for a stint in the third period when the game was clearly out of reach. The US didn’t even need their potent power play to click as they scored all five goals at even strength. The Americans used their superior defense and goaltender to quickly frustrate the Canadians and make this one look real easy.

Not to take anything away from Team USA but Canada was dreadful. Once the US got up by two the game was essentially over. The Canadians seemed resigned to the fact they would not to be able to beat American goaltender John Gibson enough to win the game.

Team USA used it’s victories over the Slovaks and the Czechs as a springboard to bigger and better things while the favored Canadians were flat as a pancake. The Boone Jenner line, which gave the Americans fits in the group stage meeting, was easily neutralized today as was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. No excuse for the Canadian performance today.

Click here for a detailed recap of the game from the official 2013 World Junior Championship site.