The United States is golden.

The United States captured the gold medal at the 2017 World Junior Championship on Thursday, coming away with a thrilling 5-4 victory in the shootout. Troy Terry notched the game-winning goal.

Terry was the lone shooter to score in the five-round shootout, as the United States won its first gold medal at the world juniors since 2013.

It was a devastating loss for Canada, who finished sixth place a year ago after winning gold in 2015. Canada has won gold just twice since 2009.

The Canadians got off to an early lead on Thursday, with defenseman Thomas Chabot opening the scoring 4:38 into the first period after he knocked the puck into a wide-open net behind sprawling American goalie Tyler Parsons.

The two sides traded chances in some exciting early minutes, with Canada tallying again at the 9:02 mark when Jeremy Lauzon fired a snap shot from the slot, marking his second tally of the tournament.

Canada carried a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. In the second period, American defenseman Charlie McAvoy quickly got his side on the board at the 3:04 mark, catching the Canadians on a bad line change and firing a shot from the slot that beat Canadian netminder Carter Hart on his glove side.

With the Canadians called for too many men midway through the second period, the Americans evened the score, as forward Kieffer Bellows deflected a point shot by Adam Fox. The score remained tied at two through two periods, with Canada carrying a 22-19 shot advantage.

Canada regained the lead 1:52 into the third period on a power-play marker by Nicolas Roy, who fired it top corner on the blocker side of Parsons. Mathieu Joseph then built on Canada's lead less than three minutes later, putting the Canadians ahead 4-2 when he dashed in on a breakaway following a pretty feed from forward Michael McLeod, pocketing the goal past Parsons.

Just 39 seconds later, the United States found the back of the net, as Bellows scored his second of the night, knocking a one-timer past Hart off a cross-ice pass from McAvoy.

The United States then tied the game at four courtesy of Colin White's seventh of the tournament, which came from getting a stick on Fox's point shot.

The game would go to a 20-minute overtime frame, with the two sides trading scoring chances in an exciting extra frame. With neither side able to capitalize, the game proceeded to the shootout, with Terry tallying for the Americans and the Canadians unable to beat Parsons on five attempts.

Parsons turned aside 46 shots in the victory, while McAvoy was named the player of the game for the Americans, finishing the night with a goal to go with his gold medal.

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Canadian workhorse defenseman Thomas Chabot was voted Most Valuable Player of the 2017 World Junior Championship.

Also named the top defenseman, Chabot scored four goals recorded at least a point in every game for the Canadians, including the opening goal in the gold-medal final Thursday versus the United States.

Russia's Kirill Kaprizov, who led the tournament with nine goals, was named the top forward, while Sweden's Felix Sandstrom took top goaltending honors as selected by the directorate.

Chabot and Kaprizov were named to the tournament's All-Star Star team, while Russian netminder Ilya Samsonsov replaced Sandstrom in that group (chosen by the media). Also included were U.S. defender Charlie McAvoy and forward Clayton Keller, as well as Sweden's Alexander Nylander.

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TAMPA, Fla. - Colton Sissons ended a 12-game goal drought with his first career hat trick, Pekka Rinne made 27 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-1 on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay pulled its goalie for an extra skater with seven minutes left in the third, and Sissons got his second of the game a minute later before completing the trick from close with three minutes remaining. He entered with two goals this season and seven overall in 78 career games.

Nashville also got goals from Mike Fisher, Filip Forsberg, and Ryan Ellis. Rinne improved to 7-0-1 against Tampa Bay.

Tyler Johnson scored for the Lightning, who went 2-2-1 on a five-game homestand. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 13 shots.

Fisher had the lone goal in the first, coming on the power play at 2:25. The Predators are 11-0-4 when scoring first. Tampa Bay has allowed the first goal in 26 of 40 games (7-15-4).

Forsberg made it 2-0 before Johnson scored on the power play early in the second, and then Sissons made it 3-1 from the right circle at 13:21.

Ellis made it a 4-1 lead 43 seconds after Sissons scored with a goal that had two reviews.

The original call was no goal because of goalie interference on Viktor Arvidsson, but that was overturned after a Nashville challenge. Tampa Bay then challenged the on-ice call that play was onside, but the review was inconclusive and the goal stood.

The Predators have outscored opponents 50-27 in the second period. The first four Nashville goals came on just eight shots.

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Patrick Maroon's earned his next start on Connor McDavid's wing.

Maroon completed a hat trick Thursday night in Boston when he jumped on a turnover in the attacking zone and left Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask sprawling with a forehand deke.

His first goal was a tap-in on the weak side born off a brilliant rush from McDavid. Maroon swatted in his second when he located the puck in a net-front battle with Adam McQuaid.

He also fought Zdeno Chara in the game, which makes the feat that much more improbable, we suppose.

Maroon was clearly humbled by the accomplishment, telling Sportsnet's Gene Principe afterward: "I never thought in a thousand years I would get a hat trick in the NHL."

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Settle for 16.

The Columbus Blue Jackets were denied their slice of history Thursday night in Washington, losing 5-0 to the Capitals in their quest to match the NHL record with their 17th consecutive win.

Daniel Winnik, John Carlson, Nate Schmidt, Andre Burakovsky, and Justin Williams scored for Washington. It was Burakovsky who spoke candidly prior to about how much pleasure the Capitals would derive from ending Columbus' incredible ride.

The Pittsburgh Penguins' stretch of 17 consecutive wins in the spring of 1993 remains the longest win streak in league history.

More to come.

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Connor McDavid likes to score in bunches.

The Edmonton Oilers center tallied a pair of assists through two periods against the Boston Bruins on Thursday, securing his 14th multi-point game of the season - good for first in the NHL.

Facing the Bruins, McDavid fed two helpers to teammate Patrick Maroon, bringing his season totals to 14 goals and 31 assists.

McDavid now sits one multi-point game ahead of Pittsburgh Penguins superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.

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Fans of the Boston Bruins are forever grateful for "the Ultimate Bruin."

On Thursday, the team honored former captain Milt Schmidt in a pregame ceremony, lowering his No. 15 banner from the rafters. The Bruins also painted his number on the ice surface behind each goal.

Schmidt died Wednesday at the age of 98.

The veteran of 16 seasons made his NHL debut with the Bruins in 1936. He spent his entire career with the Boston organization, winning the Stanley Cup in 1939 and 1941.

In 1951, Schmidt was awarded the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961.

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The Anaheim Ducks have signed depth netminder Dustin Tokarski to a one-year extension that will run through the 2017-18 season, the team announced Thursday.

Tokarski has a sub-.900 save percentage in 16 appearances for the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League this season. Since coming over to the organization in a trade in January of last year, he's been limited to 10 minutes of mop-up duty for the big club.

The 27-year-old owns a .904 save percentage in 24 career NHL appearances split between the Ducks, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Montreal Canadiens. He started five playoff games for the Canadiens in 2014 when Carey Price went down to injury.

Mike Condon beat him out for the backup role in Montreal last season, leading to his trade to Anaheim.

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There is a little more on the line for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets face off against the Washington Capitals on Thursday, and a victory will see the team tie the NHL record for the longest all-time win streak of 17, set by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins.

The game will air in front of both team's local markets. The national stage on Thursday has been reserved for the Chicago Blackhawks and the 28th-place Buffalo Sabres.

But if the Blue Jackets can tie the record, they'll have a chance at center stage on Saturday when they face the New York Rangers and aim to take claim of the record, with NBC announcing the scheduling change Thursday.

NBC is the official national broadcaster of the NHL in the United States.

This season, NBC has slated the Blackhawks for 21 national appearances. As it stands, the Blue Jackets have a single national game on the docket, a Feb. 13 match against the Rangers.

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Alex Galchenyuk is scheduled to return to practice far earlier than originally expected.

The Montreal Canadiens announced Thursday that the dynamic scorer, out since Dec. 4 with a knee injury, will skate prior to Saturday's game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It remains unknown when Galchenyuk will be fit enough to return, but his ability to practice appears to have him well ahead of the six-to-eight week timetable originally announced.

Andrei Markov will also return to practice with the club, which completes its seven-game road trip to accommodate the World Junior Championship on Saturday.

The veteran defender has been out three weeks with a lower-body injury.

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