Tyler Parsons, Troy Terry spark U.S. to World Junior Hockey final
MONTREAL — Like a desperate gambler trying to keep his seat at the blackjack table, Team USA coach Bob Motzko played a couple of hunches.
Both turned out right.
Motzko had been alternating goaltenders throughout the World Junior Hockey Championships, playing Tyler Parsons one game and Joseph Woll the next. It was a formula that had worked well, as the Americans came to the Bell Centre undefeated.
Wednesday was supposed to be Woll’s turn as the USA prepared to play Russia in the semifinals. Instead, Motzko decided to bring back Parsons, who was in net for Monday’s quarterfinal win over Switzerland.
The 19-year-old from Chesterfield, Michigan, came up big in overtime and again in the shootout as Team USA defeated Russia 4-3. Troy Terry scored three shootout goals in seven rounds as Motzko’s other hunch, using Terry multiple times, also paid off.
The victory moved the U.S. into the gold medal game against host Canada at 5 p.m. Thursday (NHL Network). Canada, which lost 3-1 to the U.S. in round-robin play, defeated Sweden 5-2 in the other semifinal to improve to 5-1.
The United States, 6-0 in the tournament, last won the World Juniors in 2013.
Parsons finished with 33 saves. He gave his team a chance to win the shootout when his catching glove caught a piece of Alexander Polunin’s wrist shot and deflected it off the crossbar in the sixth round.
“I knew I was going to play, and I made sure I was ready,” Parsons said. “You want to be in a game like this. The stakes are so high. But our guys responded, and I’m glad I was able to contribute to the win.”
Parsons, a second-round pick of the Calgary Flames from the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, is one of three players on the U.S. roster who doesn’t attend college. He plays for the London Knights, the defending Memorial Cup champions, and plays against quality competition in the Ontario Hockey League.
“I wasn’t big on school,” he said. “Playing juniors, I get to face great competition, and it’s made me better. It definitely helped prepare me to play on this (U.S.) team.”
Parsons was knocked silly by Polunin at the back end of a scrum in front of the net in the second period, but stayed in the game. Then in overtime, he stopped three early shots from close-in as the score remained 3-3.
From there, it was Terry’s show. The 6-foot forward from Highland Ranch, Colorado, used virtually the same move each time to beat Ilya Samsonov, going between the Russian goalie’s legs each time.
In international hockey, the shootout lasts five rounds compared with three in the NHL. After the third round, a player can be used multiple times. Terry had scored in the fourth round, and Motzko went back to him in the sixth and seventh, when he scored the clincher.
“He had the hot hand,” Motzko said. “The rules say you can use him again, so why not?”
It earned Terry the nickname “Oshie,” for T.J. Oshie, who had performed a similar trick in the 2014 Winter Olympics for Team USA with six shot attempts, including five consecutive that gave the Americans a 3-2 win over Russia.
“I don’t think I’d put myself in that company,” Terry said. “I just tried to be consistent.”
Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal,.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.
WORLD JUNIOR HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
Who: USA vs. Canada
When: 5 p.m. Thursday
Where: Bell Centre, Montreal
Records: USA 6-0; Canada 5-1
TV: NHL Network
