What TV channel is Canada vs. USA on today? Schedule, time for 2021 World Juniors gold-medal game It'll be an all-North American battle on the ice when Canada and the United States go toe-to-toe for gold at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship on Tuesday in Edmonton. The teams will meet in the title game for the first time since 2017, when the United States won 5-4 in a shootout on a goal by Troy Terry against Carter Hart. In the 2021 edition, the teams advanced to their showdown in quite different fashions. The U.S. needed a goal with 76 seconds remaining by New York City's Arthur Kaliyev to beat Finland 4-3 in the semifinals, while the Canadians easily dispatched Russia 5-0. "This day has been marked on all of our calendars since being here," said Alex Newhook, who scored Canada's first goal less than a minute into its game Monday against the Russians. "To finally be here and see that the work we put in is paid off to this point, it's exciting. We're excited to bring that mindset into tomorrow and play our game as best we can. Go for gold." Bragging rights will also be on the line as a number of players will be facing off against current teammates — like Wisconsin's Dylan Holloway (Canada) and Cole Caufield (USA) — and future ones, including netminders Spencer Knight (USA) and Devon Levi (Canada), who are Panthers draft picks. "Obviously it's going to be a great game," said American John Farinacci. "It's something that you dream about. USA, Canada and a gold-medal game, it's always going to be a fun game and we've got to play a full 60 minutes if we want to get that gold medal." Oh, baby. The 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship has blessed us all with the ultimate gold-medal game. After Monday's semifinals saw four of the "Big Five" powerhouses battle it out for a spot in the championship game, it's now set with a no-holds-barred, old fashioned North American showdown as Canada and the United States going toe-to-toe at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alta. This meeting was almost inevitable; Hockey Canada and USA Hockey were on a collision course after each team won its respective groups. But who will go home happy? These kids have been through a lot to reach this point — quarantines, daily COVID-19 testing, boring meals, Zoom meetings — and now they'll be looking to leave bubble hockey with the ultimate prize: World Juniors gold. It comes down to just 60 minutes of ice time (unless, like past meetings, overtime or a shootout is needed). Which team will hear their anthem played and who will leave Alberta golden? Sporting News breaks it all down for you and predicts which country will take the top prize. Canada steamrolled the competition, going a perfect 4-0 and outscoring opponents 33-4 in the preliminary round. In the medal rounds, the team easily dispatched opponents by posting back-to-back shutouts of the Czech Republic and Russia. The Americans lost their tournament opener to Russia, put it behind them and then topped Group B with three straight wins. They had a bit of a scare in the quarterfinals and semis. In the first playoff game against a tough Slovakian team, they pushed through with a much-closer-than-the-score 5-2 win. On Monday night, the Americans were up 3-1 in the third before Finland tied it and Arthur Kaliyev scored the game-winner with 76 seconds left. There's a long-storied history between the U.S. and Canada. But in the gold-medal game, Tuesday marks just the fifth meeting between the teams. The United States has won three of the four previous meetings, with one win coming in overtime and another in a shootout. Canada won its fifth straight gold medal with a 2-0 win over the U.S., backstopped by netminder Marc Denis. The game marked the first time USA Hockey was playing in the championship in the tournament's history (since 1977) and the last time Canada won gold until 2005. Future NHLer Mike York earned the top scorer title with 10 points, and there was one guy from the game who's still playing in the NHL — Canada's Joe Thornton. In dramatic fashion, the United States won its first gold medal at World Juniors as the team came back from a 3-1 deficit heading into the third period to win 4-3. That fourth goal became infamous in World Juniors history as Canada goalie Marc-Andre Fleury went to clear the puck from his crease and hit his own defenseman — knocking the puck into the net. Until that point, in the 30-year history of USA Hockey participating in the IIHF World Junior Championship, the program had only won two bronze medals (1986, 1992) and one silver (1997).Six years after these two countries met in the gold-medal game they were back at it. This one marked the first time the U.S. was back in the gold-medal game since 2004, while Canada was coming off five consecutive golds. The Americans were up 5-3 after Derek Stepan scored 6:23 into the third period, but then Jordan Eberle scored two goals in the final three minutes to tie things up. In the overtime session, it was the Americans' John Carlson netting the game-winner. he last gold-medal meeting between these two countries was four years ago. This one went to a shootout, where Troy Terry beat Carter Hart for the lone goal. American netminder Tyler Parsons then stopped Nicolas Roy to seal the win. "I remember both times I was watching with my dad and we were pretty pumped up," Alex Turcotte said Monday night when asked whether he watched 2010 and 2017. "Those are legendary moments in this tournament for USA hockey and it was awesome to watch and to be able to play in the Canada-USA gold-medal game in this tournament. It's a dream come true and we're gonna make the most of it." While these teams are littered with NHL draft picks — 19 of Canada's 24 players were drafted in the first round alone — and future bragging rights are on the line, there are also a few guys on the teams who are college or CHL pals right now. I call him one of my best friends. He's my roommate at school, the second year in a row," Boldy told reporters on Dec. 27. "Obviously played with him a lot last year and we're really close. He's an awesome kid, an awesome hockey player." Just like the quarterfinals and semis, Levi will once again be critical to Canada's success. The Americans are by far the most potent offense Canada will face in this tournament. Through six games, the U.S. has put a tournament-high 237 shots on goal and their 34 goals are only second to Canada's 41. Levi has started every game (he was pulled against Germany to get Dylan Garand some time) and has allowed just three goals — all on the power play. He'll need to hunker down while shorthanded as the Americans bring with them the tournament's best power play. At just 19, Levi showcases a calmness in net with pinpoint positioning and expert puck tracking. He turned aside all 28 Russian shots in the semis for his third shutout of the tournament, the second Canadian goalie to do that, joining Justin Pogge, who did it in 2006. While it's nice to tie the record, Levi is focused on winning. "I'm not playing for a shutout record. I'm playing for a gold medal," said Levi, who copped to trying for an empty-net goal in the waning seconds of the game. "I'm looking for tomorrow and it's something maybe to look at after the tournament, but the job's not done yet." The Northeastern netminder is boasting an impressive 0.53 goals-against average, which is better than (so far) the likes of Pogge (1.00) and some guys named Carey Price (1.14) and Steve Mason (1.19). Not bad for a guy who wasn't even invited to Hockey Canada's summer camp. "I don't know what to say. I look like I repeat myself every day," head coach Andre Tourigny said when asked about his netminder. "He's really assertive, he's really quick, he's aggressive, he's focused. He's radiating confidence for us. He is so assertive. We're glad to have him on our side." This game is going to come down to which goaltender falters, and Knight will have to match his Beanpot opponent save-for-save in this one. After allowing four goals on 12 shots to the Russians, Knight has settled down considerably. He pitched back-to-back shutouts to close out the preliminary round before allowing a goal to Slovakia late in the second period of the Americans' quarterfinal win. The goal ended Team USA's shutout streak at a World Juniors-record 218:53. Knight and Dustin Wolf also combined for 245:07 of shutout time with a goalie in the net. "I don't think it rattled him, the results of the first game in the tournament — maybe a little bit, but not like it would other goalies," USA head coach Nate Leaman said after his team advance to the title match. "He doesn't go in the tank if it's a bad game. I talked briefly with him about that. Your confidence comes from your process. Your competence doesn't come from your last outcome. It comes from your process and he's got a great process." Knight looked solid in net for the Americans against Finland on Monday night. He did allow three goals, but one was off a picture-perfect passing play on the power play and the second Finnish tally was in the waning minutes of another power play when the American defense lost track of their men. The big number: Three This game is probably going to be decided on special teams. Canada has been perfect at 5-on-5 and the only goals Devon Levi has only allowed — a mere three — have all been on the power play. Staying out of the box will be critical for the Canadians, as the U.S. has the most potent power play in the tournament. If they can do that and keep the game at 5-on-5, things should swing the Canadians' way.