BRNO, Czech Republic – Frankie Vatrano scored the winning goal in the third period to lead the United States to a 5-3 victory over Canada on Tuesday at the world under-18 hockey championship.
Vatrano scored 6:39 into the final period. Matt Grzelcyk, Riley Barber, Seth Jones and Matt Lane also scored for the Americans (4-0), the three-time defending champions who surrendered their first goals of the tournament.
Hunter Shinkaruk, Matt Dumba and Ryan Pulock scored for Canada (2-2), while Matt Murray finished with 35 saves, including a first-period penalty shot from Lane.
The Americans finished on top of Group A and earned a bye directly into the semifinals. Canada will face Russia in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
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