Canada, U.S. deadlocked in 4 Nations tilt after fast-paced first period
Published
Connor McDavid and Jake Guentzel both scored in the first period as Canada and the U.S. are deadlocked at 1-1 after the opening 20 minutes of play Saturday night.
The game began with three fights inside the first nine seconds, with American forward Matthew Tkachuk dropping the gloves opposite of Brandon Hagel on the opening draw.
After the pair received five minute majors, Brady Tkachuk would follow suit with his brother and squared off against Sam Bennett.
The hostilities continued six seconds later, with J.T. Miller and Colton Parayko getting in on the action. The fight started after a scrum broke out in front of the Canadian net following Jordan Binnington’s first save of the night.
Miller was given an extra two minutes for instigating, but Canada was unable to score on the power play.
After the fast start, McDavid would open the scoring at the 5:31 mark of the first period.
The Edmonton Oilers captain received a stretch pass from Drew Doughty, before driving the net and beating American goalie Connor Hellebuyck on the backhand.
The U.S. would respond five minutes later, with Guenztel scoring on the other end with help from a Jack Eichel assist.
Eichel entered the zone before finding Guentzel down the left wing. The Tampa Bay Lightning forward would fire a quick shot on net almost immediately after receving the pass, scoring on Binnington for the equalizer.
Binnington turned away seven of eight shots in the first period, while Hellebuyck made nine saves on 10 attempts.
Canada would fail to convert on two power plays after penalties to Miller and Guentzel, while the U.S. went scoreless on their lone attempt with the man advantage following Sidney Crosby's hooking infraction. There were a total of 36 penalty minutes handed out to both teams in the first period.