WJC: Chris Di Domenico, Post-game scrum

Thousands of viewers watched Team Canada forward Chris Di Domenico receive a mouthful of wood mid-celebration in front of Team USA's bench on New Year's Eve. The incident is one of a series of events inspiring the Canadians' recovery from an early 3-0 deficit. Following the game, Di Domenico offered his perspective on "the chop", and the motivating factors for his team's comeback to win 7-4.

Reporter: Getting behind early, there must have been some frustration on (your) bench. Did that emotion lead to what happened when you went ahead?

Chris Di Domenico: There was a lot of emotion running high there after the three goals they scored, and they came by our bench*. So I returned the favor by their bench, and I guess one of them struck me visor. But that's the game, it's how things go, and we just came back battling hard.

Reporter: Do you think (Canada) was slow getting started?

CD: I think so, after Johnny (Tavares) put in the second one in, we all found (our stride). We didn't push the panic button once this game, and it just shows how much character we have in the room. (Dustin) Tokarski bailed us out a couple of times after we let in a couple of big ones. We didn't give him any help, one on the five-on-three, and stuff. He had a huge save on Colin Wilson in the second period, and that rallied us, and we came out with the victory.

Reporter: Is this (game) everything you thought it would be?

CD: Well, yea, we didn't have a good start to our game, so obviously we've got to get prepared and have a good start. It's going to get tougher and tougher as the games go on, and going into the semi-finals now we can't let a lead like that go.

Reporter: What about your face, you got a stick in the face there?

CD: It was just a little bit on the nose, but that's hockey. We just came after them and battled hard.

Reporter: What about John (Tavares) tonight? He seemed to have his best game yet, with two goals to really get the team going. Tell us what he's like to play with, and what he's like in the room.

CD: He's always an amazing player to play with, and an amazing guy in the room. He always speaks up when he needs to speak up. He got this train going for us, after the second goal he scored… and we just fed off him. Tokarski came up huge for us with that save on Colin Wilson, and we just came out with the victory.

McKeens: How did the Canadians prepare for this game, and how surprised were you by the Americans getting out to such an early 3-0 lead?

CD: We prepare like we do every other game, it doesn't matter if we're playing Kazakhstan - or a tougher team than that. We just came out flat, they came out strong. We got into a little penalty trouble, we went down five-on-three once, and they scored, but you never push the panic button once in the room. We just kept our focus in there, and came out hard in the second and did positive things out there.

McKeens: What was the turning point that motivated the comeback?

CD: I think it was Dustin Tokarski's save on Colin Wilson. It just shows that you never give up on a play. He just stuck his glove out there, and caught it, I guess. The boys were all riled up after that. It got us going, and I personally think that was the turning point of the game. But there are 22 guys in here, we never pushed the panic button once, and just kept going and it shows just how much character we have.

* Video shows USA's Jimmy Hayes celebrating overzealously in front of the Canadian bench after his goal to put the Americans ahead 2-0.