The team is much different, but the situation facing Canada at the world junior hockey tournament looks eerily similar.

Last year in Ottawa, Canada went 4-0 and outscored opponents 36-6 in the preliminary round. This year in Saskatoon, the Canadians won their four games by a combined 35-6.

In 2009, their first taste of adversity was the final round-robin game on New Year's Eve against the Americans when they went down 3-0 early and battled back for a 7-4 win.

On Thursday night, the Americans led 4-2 with 10 minutes to play in regulation time before Canada rallied to tie it, then win 5-4 in a shootout.

In last year's semifinals, Canada needed a Jordan Eberle goal in the dying seconds to force overtime and then beat Russia 6-5 in a shootout.

Canada might well face Russia again in the semifinals Sunday. But first, the Russians have to get past unpredictable Switzerland in a quarter-final contest Saturday.

"We want to make our own story here, but it is like last year," team captain Patrice Cormier said Friday. "We won three pretty easy and then a tough one against the U.S.

"Now we'll find out who we're going to face, but it should be a tough opponent in the semis."

Cormier is one of six returning players from the 2009 team that earned a record-tying fifth gold medal for Canada. The others include forwards Eberle and Stafan Della-Rovere and defencemen Colten Teubert, Alex Pietrangelo and Ryan Ellis.

The 2009 team was led by scoring star John Tavares, now with the New York Islanders, Cody Hodgson, who is out with a back injury, and rushing defenceman P.K. Subban, who has graduated to pro hockey.

This year's team is built more on solid two-way skaters, although Eberle and Taylor Hall, who may succeed Tavares as the No. 1 NHL draft pick, are first-rate scoring forwards.

"I think that last year we had more skills up front," said Cormier, a grinding, physical centre. "This year, we have a lot of the same type of players, but we have four lines we can count on to score goals.

"They were two very good teams. Both teams worked hard. Hopefully, it will finish like last year."

That is the big question after the scare Canada got from the U.S. The Americans outskated their rivals for 2 1/2 periods before the Canadians shortened their bench and played all-out desperation hockey to tie the game, spurred on by a sellout crowd at the Credit Union Centre.

Until then, Canada looked to be on its heels against an energetic American forecheck, committing numerous turnovers to allow odd-man rushes. A second period in which the U.S. scored two short-handed goals could have been much worse had Chris Kreider not been stopped on a penalty shot and Kyle Palmieri not hit the post on a breakaway.

Instead, the loss put the Americans into a nervy quarter-final against Finland. But the Americans came away from the game quite reasonably convinced they can beat Canada.

The Canadians say they will need to be sharper from the drop of the puck if they meet the U.S. again in the tournament final.

"Our character is what won us the game," said Teubert. "When it came down to it, we just wore them down in the third period by outworking them.

"We were down two goals and I think everyone on the team believed we could win. In the shootout, it got scary there, but it's a good thing all our shooters scored."

Eberle, Nazem Kadri and Brandon Kozun all scored, while Jake Allen stopped veteran Jordan Schroeder on the Americans' third and last shot for the win.

Coach Willie Desjardins adjusted his lines as the game went on, not only because winger Jordan Caron left after the first because he was ill.

Della-Rovere jumped from the fourth line to replace Greg Nemisz on a scoring line with Hall and Kadri, while versatile winger Brandon McMillan saw some time on defence, including the point on the power play.

Desjardins said his power-play units, particularly the forwards, need to be more conservative, particularly when the other team has a chance to get the puck, to prevent the odd-man rushes the other way that turned into short-handed goals.

The power play had scored 13 times in three games against lesser opponents but went 0-for-6 against the Americans.

Ellis admitted he was among the guilty when it came to turning over the puck, but he was not alone.

"We've all had games that weren't our best," said Desjardins. "(Ellis) will bounce back and play well.

"I'm more concerned that as a whole we didn't play great. It wasn't just one player."

Pietrangelo, whose goal with 4:45 left in regulation was also shorthanded, put the Canadians' troubles down to "puck management and skating."

"We weren't skating in the first period," he said. "We don't usually get outworked, but in the third period, we battled back.

"Our puck management got better and it turned the game around for us."

Caron was given his own room at the team hotel and otherwise kept away from his teammates to avoid his illness from spreading.

Defenceman Calvin de Haan, who has missed two games with an undisclosed injury, skated for a second day and may be ready for the semifinals.