2017 World Junior Hockey Championship Gold Medal Game: Canada vs. USA preview, start time, TV schedule, and lineups

It should be a gold medal game for the ages, as both Canada and the United States are coming off of exhilarating semifinal victories. For Team USA came down to the wire against Russia in a fast-paced back-and-forth game that ended in a shootout, whereas Canada overcame early struggles to beat Sweden 5-2.

The host nation will look to deliver a better performance this time around against the United States, as the preliminary game loss left the Canadians with a bitter taste in their mouths. Last time Canada was unable to effectively break through the American defense, only scoring a single goal that came on the man advantage.

The goaltending match-up is likely to be different this time around than it was on New Year's Eve. Instead of Connor Ingram and Joseph Woll, it is likely to be Carter Hart and Tyler Parsons starting in goal, as they both earned the wins in their respective semifinal games.

The key to victory for Canada will be to start off strong, something that they have struggled with all tournament. The line of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Julien Gauthier and Nicholas Roy has arguably been the team's best since they were put together, but most of Canada's forwards have chipped in at various times.

Team USA will continue to work hard along the boards and in front of the net and try to create bounces that will lead to goals, much like they did against Russia. They will be led by Colin White and Clayton Keller, who have been consistently solid all tournament long.

How to watch

Puck drop: 8:00 PM EST / 5:00 PM PST

In Canada: TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5, TSN4K (English), RDS (French)

Streaming: TSNGO

Canada’s projected lineup (subject to change)

USA’s projected lineup (subject to change)