Jack Wallace scored 19 seconds into the overtime session to give the United States a 2-1 win over Canada at the IPH Cup para hockey tournament on Tuesday in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Declan Farmer left a drop pass for Wallace, who manoeuvred through the Canadian defence before beating netminder Corbin Watson.
“There is a lesson here about how hard it is to win games at this level,” said Canadian head coach Russ Herrington. “We can’t be selective of what nights we show up and want to win races and battles.”
Evan Nichols had the other goal for the U.S. Anton Jacobs-Webb tallied for the Canadians (1-1), who opened the preliminary round with a 9-0 rout of Italy.
“I think we started slowly today … I know it’s only our second game of the season, but it’s something we had to address,” Jacobs-Webb said. “I think as the game went on, we started winning races to pucks and the intensity picked up.”
The defending champion Americans (2-0) had a 27-13 edge in shots.
Canada will play host Czechia on Thursday.
WATCH: Canada captures world Para hockey gold over U.S. in May: