World Junior 2015: Max Domi 'ready to go for the real thing' in medal round after igniting Team Canada in Montreal

MONTREAL — Max Domi once again illustrated how opposites attract.

The human adrenaline shot started and finished the scoring in Team Canada's 5-3 New Year's Eve win over Team USA, getting what he called an "ugly goal" in the second period before also racing down the ice for the empty-net clincher in the closing seconds.The main memory of the day, inside an arena where the left wing's father, Tie Domi, was Public Enemy No. 1 when his Toronto Maple Leafs teams played the Canadiens, was a "Domi Domi, Domi" chant bouncing off the walls of the Bell Centre. Meantime, it was once again an either/or on whether Domi — who never stopping moving his feet, or his lips as he kept a line of dialogue going with the U.S. bench — or centre Sam Reinhart was Canada's man of the hour. The gist of it is that Domi's non-stop motor and Reinhart's Left Coast cool are a perfect match. And the bigger the games get, the better they play.

"That was a blast," said Domi, whose seven points are tied for second in tourney in scoring, one behind Reinhart, the Buffalo Sabres first-rounder. "It was a lot of fun. It's a big rivalry, a lot of fun to play in. It was a hard-fought game, we were hitting them.

"Every game's been outstanding with all the support we've gotten from the Montreal Canadiens fans, so merci beaucoup to all those fans out there," Domi added, returning the love shown from Quebecers. "It was pretty special and we probably don't get the four wins without them."

Just as he's done with the OHL's London Knights, and did against Finland, Domi raised his play as the stakes got higher. In a chippy contest where it was, as defenceman Dillon Heatherington said, "tough to stay within your zone," Domi found the razor's edge and played with a certain cool. His icebreaker goal 7:07 into the second came about after he coolly toe-dragged Brandon Carlo on a 1-on-1, causing the U.S. defender to fall and take himself out of the play. That is type of derring-do Canada has often been accused of lacking during its five-year gold-medal drought.

"Him and a lot of guys, as the games get more physical, they don't shy away from it," said Reinhart, who fed Domi for his first goal, had points on both empty-netters and also won 18-of-23 faceoffs. "Max certaintly didn't and played better."

The win set up a Denmark-Canada quarter-final matchup on Friday at Toronto's Air Canada Centre, father Tie's one-time home rink. The other side of the bracket involves a Czech Republic-Slovakia matchup.

"I think we did a good job today establishing our identity," Domi said. "We got away from it for a few minutes [when Team USA's Dylan Larkin scored two goals in the final three minutes, which were mooted by the empty-netters]. Now we're ready to go for the real thing.

"We keep getting better, whether it's in practice or games," Domi added. "We have a special group."

Reinhart's turn as the classic crafty centre was another hallmark of the day. His dominance on the dot came largely at the expense of top NHL draft prospect Jack Eichel, who was 3-for-17 (which really isn't a shock given his sub-50% success rate with Boston University in the Hockey East conference). He also stripped the puck from Tampa Bay Lightning first-rounder Anthony DeAngelo for the first empty-netter with 54.5 seconds left to open a 4-2 advantage. DeAngelo thought he had time as he retreated across centre for the puck. Suddenly, he didn't.

"The only play I had there was to put it through his stick (and body)," DeAngelo said. "He [Reinhart] knocked it down and sort of ices the game a little right there. It was a tough one to handle but you have to give him credit right there "

Detroit Red Wings prospect Dylan Larkin, Team USA's leading point-getter, sniped his second goal in fewer than two minutes with 42.2 ticks on the clock. Reinhart had to win another draw, but off a break out of the zone, banked a 45-degree pass off the boards right to Domi for the sealer.

"That was like playing pool," Domi said. "I didn 't know how he did it. That just shows you how smart Rhino is.

"He controls the whole game," Domi added with respect to Reinhart. "Whenever it gets even a little out of hand, he's the first one to settle it down and calm everyone down. He's a great leader and a hell of a hockey player. "

That line, with Anthony Duclair on the right wing, was unquestionably Canada's best across the games in Montreal.

"We have to continue to get better and work on little details," Domi added.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.