The 2015 World Junior Hockey Championship got off to a rough start for Team Canada on Saturday as they lost 4-2 to the United States in the tournament opener from Helsinki, Finland.

Auston Matthews, the projected top pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, had a goal and an assist in the third period as the Americans scored three times in the final period for the win.

Moose Jaw Warriors captain Brayden Point had some good chances in the final minute, but couldn’t convert to cut into the American lead.  Point finished with a team-high four shots on goal in the loss.

Mathew Barzal opened the scoring for Canada early in the second period, but Colin White tied it for the States later in the frame to send the game to the third at 1-1.

A point shot by Zach Werenski on a power play early in the third beat Canadian goalie Mason MacDonald to give the Americans their first lead of the game.

Canada’s power play responded a few minutes later with Dylan Strome firing the puck in from the slot, but a couple of deflected shots by Canadian defenders led to two U.S. goals — Louie Belpedio and Matthews — in just 41 seconds late in third for the win.

MacDonald allowed four goals on 25 shots to take the loss in goal for Canada, while Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves for the United States.

Canada will return to the ice on Monday when they take on Denmark.  Puck drops at 12:00pm.

Warriors forward Jiri Smejkal and the Czech Republic also dropped their opening game on Saturday, falling 2-1 in a shootout to Russia.  They will go up against Slovakia on Monday.

In other opening day action at the World Juniors, Sweden knocked off Switzerland, 8-3, and Finland skated to a 6-0 win over Belarus.