Matt Duchene of Team Canada scores his second goal of the first period against Jonathan Quick of Team USA during the World Cup of Hockey tournament at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada.

Story highlights

US knocked out of World Cup after 0-2 start

Canada on pace to win third successive tournament

American Patrick Kane scoreless in tournament

CNN  — 

Although the US dominated the medal count at the Rio Olympics – winning golds in everything from basketball to boxing to BMX – it still can’t compete with Canada when it comes to hockey.

Team USA lost 4-2 to its northern neighbors in Toronto Tuesday, dashing medal hopes at the newly revamped World Cup of Hockey after just two games.

The Americans took the lead early on with a Ryan McDonagh goal, but could only hold it for a minute and a half before Canada rocked back with two goals in just 14 seconds.

The flurry, started by Matt Duchene and followed up by Corey Perry, sapped the life out of Team USA – which has also fallen to Canada in the previous two Olympics.

Duchene would score one more, along with teammate Patrice Bergeron before the night was over.

“It’s disappointing, frustrating…a whole sea of emotions,” said much maligned Team USA coach John Tortorella to reporters after the 4-2 loss. “I think we let some people down, it’s on my watch, I certainly feel responsible for that.”

Tortorella’s team selection had been questioned before the tournament even started, with prolific NHL scorer Phil Kessel one of a few notable exceptions left off the roster.

Kessel vented his frustration with a tweet after the game, remarking “Just sitting around the house tonight (with) my dog. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldn’t put my finger on it.”

The US previously lost to the lightly regarded Team Europe 2-0 and will play the Czech Republic in a meaningless game Thursday. NHL scoring champion Patrick Kane went goalless in both games.

Canada and Team Europe will meet in one semifinal, while Sweden and Russia will contest the other.

‘The Miracle on Ice’

Canada, meanwhile, appear on track for one more title, after sweeping the last two Olympics and World Championships.

Canada also won the most recent World Cup, which was played in 2004. The tournament, which is run by the NHL and its players’ union, had been run infrequently, but will occur every four years going forward.

The US claimed the 1996 tournament, when it beat Canada three times – the only wins in 13 meetings over the history of the World Cup and its predecessor, the Canada Cup.

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In 18 Olympic meetings, the US has won just three games, lost 10 and tied three – beating Canada just once in the past 56 years.

Although the US and Canada share many cultural traits, the two countries could not be more different on the sporting plane. The US has traditionally dominated the Summer Olympics, while Canada – a nation with roughly one-tenth of its neighbour’s population – has finished with more gold medals in the previous two Winter Olympics.

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Nowhere does that rivalry resonate more than on the ice, where it is not uncommon for fans to boo each other’s national anthems before games.

The Canadian and US hockey teams first squared off at the inaugural Olympic hockey tournament in 1920, with Canada defeating the US 2-0 in the semifinal on the way to its first of nine Olympic golds.

It would take 36 years before the US beat Canada in the Olympics, and four further years before winning a gold of its own as host of the 1960 Winter Games.

The US famously won another Olympic gold in 1980, when a group of amateur college students beat the Soviet Union 4-3 in the final round – America’s greatest achievement in global hockey before or since. The game became known as “The Miracle on Ice.”

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The rivalry reached a boiling point at the Vancouver 2010 Games, when the US lost to Canada in a sudden-death overtime score by Sidney Crosby, which became known as the “Golden Goal.”

Crosby, who is captaining this World Cup team, is hoping for his fourth major tournament win for Canada since 2010.