The Americans will look to rebound against their Canadian rivals as they fell 2-1 to Russia in their last game.
by Kathy K., Associate Editor, All Habs Hockey Magazine
MONTREAL, QC — Many Montreal Canadiens’ fans have a bit of a conundrum on their hands in light of tomorrow morning’s game: last summer, their team drafted the young man that currently leads the Americans in scoring.
Alex Galchenyuk has already turned his fair share of heads in this tournament, a trend that is most likely to continue in much of the same path that the rivalry between USA and Canada has taken in recent years. The Americans suffered their first loss of the tournament in their last game against Russia, while Canada will be down a man up front due to suspensions to Boone Jenner and now J.C. Lipon.
There is an already-obvious incentive in play here, but with a Group B that is already packed with three powerhouse teams, this game imposes a little more worry on Team Canada, who remains undefeated thus far in the preliminary round. Should they lose, their New Year’s Eve matchup with the host Russians (Group B’s other undefeated team) becomes all the more crucial as either they, the Americans or the Russians could take Group B with a win that day. The Americans, however, would face the threat of a similar fate to last year’s disappointment and need to fight Slovakia to be able to move on to the knockout round.
USA
2012 finish: Faced Switzerland in the relegation round and won 2-1 to place 7th.
Returnees: John Gibson, Jacob Trouba, JT Miller, Austin Watson
Top Scorers:
| Player | Goals | Assists | Points |
| Alex Galchenyuk | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Riley Barber | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Jacob Trouba | 2 | 0 | 2 |
After this game: Slovakia on Monday, December 31st at 5:00 a.m. EST.
CANADA
2012 finish: 3rd
2012 against USA: In the preliminary round in Edmonton last year, the Americans mounted a near-comeback against Canada as they responded to Mark Stone, Jaden Schwartz and Brett Connolly’s tallies with two goals of their own in the latter portion of the third period. Canada would win this one narrowly by the score of 3-2.
Top Scorers:
| Player | Goals | Assists | Points |
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Ryan Strome | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Mark Scheifele | 3 | 1 | 4 |
After this game: Russia on Monday, December 31st at 9:00 a.m. EST.
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