The script had to seem way too familiar for the United States.
For the second straight meeting at the 2010 World Junior Championship, Canada erased the Americans’ two-goal, third-period lead to force overtime.
Last time, Canada won in a shootout to earn the top spot in the preliminary pool.
Tuesday, there was a rewrite.
Defenseman John Carlson scored his second goal of the game 4:31 into overtime, giving the U.S. a 6-5 victory and the country’s second gold medal at the event.
Carlson fired a wrist shot past Canadian goaltender Martin Jones on a 2-on-1 break launched by Wisconsin’s John Ramage during the 4-on-4 overtime session.
The Americans won gold in 2004, but Canada reeled off five straight championships since.
They had the momentum heading into overtime in their drive for a sixth in a row after Jordan Eberle scored twice in the final three minutes to tie the game at 5-5.
Goals by Boston College’s Chris Kreider and Minnesota’s Jordan Schroeder put the U.S. up 2-1 in the first period, but Greg Nemisz scored before the end of the frame to tie the game.
Carlson and Taylor Hall traded second-period goals before Rensselaer’s Jerry D’Amigo and Wisconsin’s Derek Stepan assisted on each other’s third-period score for a 5-3 U.S. lead.
Carlson and Stepan were chosen to the all-star team selected by the media. Stepan led the tournament with 14 points (four goals, 10 assists).
