US rallies to 4-3 shootout win over Canada in outdoor game

By JOHN WAWROW
Associated Press

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Out of the way, Canada. Brady Tkachuk and the Americans are just fine when it comes to handling snow and ice.

Tkachuk and Kieffer Bellows found plenty enough traction on a snow-covered rink to score shootout goals and cap the United States’ 4-3 victory over Canada on Friday in international hockey’s first outdoor game.

Much like they did the similar two times against Canada at the world junior hockey championship, the defending gold-medal-winning Americans overcame a two-goal deficit by scoring twice in a span of 34 seconds in the third period.

“It just made it better with the snow coming down and the fans’ excitement. You could definitely feel it,” Tkachuk said of a game played with snow persistently falling from the opening faceoff. “We knew we were taking it to them in the second and third period and Coach was saying, if one goes in, two go in.”

A snowball effect, perhaps. And it happened in front of a world junior tournament record crowd of 44,592 — some going shirtless in celebrating the bitter elements — at the NFL Buffalo Bills’ home, New Era Field.

The Americans (1-1-1) showed resolve in not only beating their cross-border rivals, but overcoming the disappointment of a 3-2 loss to Slovakia on Thursday.

“That talks a lot about our group and the locker room and how close we are as a family,” Bellows said. “There was never a doubt in the whole entire locker room or on the bench at any point.”

Tkachuk and Ron Perunovich scored in the third period, while Casey Mittlestadt had three assists to take over the tournament lead with six points (two goals, four assists). Bellows scored his tournament leading fourth goal, and goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 19 shots through overtime and all four he faced in the shootout.

Boris Katchouk, Cale Makar and Dillon Dube scored for Canada (2-0-1), which has lost four straight meeting to the Americans. It was a familiar and disappointing result for goalie Carter Hart, who was also lost the championship game to the U.S. in January.

“Last year doesn’t matter at all,” said Hart, who stopped 32 shots through overtime Friday. “Tomorrow, we get the chance to finish in first place, so that’s what on our mind’s now.”

By earning a point for the shootout loss, Canada still has the edge in the Group A standings in being two points ahead of the Americans. The Canadians can clinch top spot with a win in their preliminary round finale against Denmark (0-3) on Saturday.

In the only other tournament game, St. Louis Blues draft pick Klim Kostin scored twice in leading Russia (2-1) to a 5-2 win over Belarus (0-3). Russia clinched a Group B berth in the quarterfinal round Tuesday. Belarus closes the preliminary round against the Czech Republic on Saturday and is in jeopardy of finishing last in five-team Group B standings.

Bellows scored on the Americans’ first shootout chance by snapping a shot through Hart’s legs. Then Tkachuk scored by firing a shot in the top right corner.

Down 3-1, Perunovich cut the lead to 3-2 from the slot by capping a give-and-go passing play with Mittelstadt with 13:51 left. Mittlestadt, the Buffalo Sabres’ first-round pick, then set up Tkachuk in front for the tying goal by gathering a loose puck behind the net after Canadian defenseman Kale Clague lost his stick.

The Americans drew upon last year’s win over Canada, in which they trailed 4-2.

“Just believing you’re never out of the game. We had a lot of hockey left to be played,” U.S. defenseman Adam Fox said. “Last year, it was a very similar thing. Some guys who are returning had that experience to tell guys this year that, ‘You know, we’re not down and out.’”

It was a familiar feeling of disappointment for Canada.

“Yeah, it’s a tough pill to swallow once again losing to the Americans in the shootout,” forward Michael McLeod said. “The only good thing is that this is round robin.”

The crowd on Friday appeared evenly split with American and Canadian fans, many of whom spent much of the game standing. As night fell, a red glow emanated from the middle section of the stadium, where rows of heaters hang above the seats.

Flurries began falling during the pre-game national anthems, and the snow fell harder as the game progressed. It began falling so heavily that the surface had to be shoveled at each commercial break starting late in the second period. Work crews filled several wheelbarrows full of snow, which were dumped onto a pile that grew to about seven feet behind the east end of the rink.

Oettinger had an opportunity to take time to enjoy the atmosphere.

“Yeah, I did see the shirtless guy on the Jumbotron. Yeah, I took a look a couple of times,” Oettinger said with a smile. “A really fun win, but now we’ve got to put it behind us.”

Final 2018 U.S. National Junior Team Roster Announced

BUFFALO, N.Y. — USA Hockey today announced the final 23-player roster for the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team that will compete in the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Buffalo, New York, from Dec. 26, 2017 - Jan. 5, 2018.

The final player roster is below:

FORWARDS

Joey Anderson
Kieffer Bellowa
Logan Brown
Trenr Frederic
Patrick Harper
Max Jones
Will Lockwood
Casey Mittelstadt
Josh Norris
Ryab Poehling
Brady Tkachuk
Riley Tufte
Kailer Yamamoto

DEFENSEMEN

Mikey Anderson
Adam Fox
Quinn Hughes
Ryab Lindgren
Andrew Peeke
Scott Perunovich
Dylan Samberg

GOALTENDERS

Jame Oettinger
Jeremy Swayman
Joseph Woll

"We're excited about these 23 players that will represent the United States on home ice in Buffalo," said Jim Johannson, general manager of the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team and also the assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. "With depth at every position, the decisions we made today were very difficult and that is a credit to development of talent throughout the country. Our players and staff are excited to be in Buffalo and for the tournament to get underway."

The final roster features three goaltenders, seven defensemen and 13 forwards. Of the 23 players named to the roster, 16 have previously represented the United States in IIHF tournament play, including seven who skated for the gold medal-winning 2017 U.S. National Junior Team last year. Additionally, five players helped the U.S. earn a gold medal as a member of the 2017 U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team while 11 players skated for the 2016 U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team that earned a bronze medal last year.

In addition, forward Kieffer Bellows (Edina, Minn./Portland Winterhawks) and defensemen Adam Fox (Jericho, N.Y./Harvard University) and Ryan Lindgren (Minneapolis, Minn./University of Minnesota) have been tabbed alternate captains of the squad. Forward Joey Anderson (Roseville, Minn./University of Minnesota Duluth) was named captain of the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team on Dec. 18.

"We're excited about our veteran leadership group here in Buffalo," said Bob Motzko, head coach of the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team. "Joey, Kieffer, Ryan and Adam have the respect of everybody in the room and we have complete confidence that they can lead this group of players to a gold medal here on home ice."

Bellows, Fox and Lindgren were all members of last year's U.S. National Junior Team that captured the gold medal at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship in Montreal and Toronto, Canada. Additionally, Lindgren was captain for the bronze medal-winning 2016 U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team that competed in the IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota while Bellows and Fox will be serving as alternate captains on a U.S. team for the first time.

Team USA will begin play in the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship next Tuesday, Dec. 26, against Denmark. Puck drop is set for 8:00 p.m. ET and can be seen live on NHL Network.

NOTES: The U.S. National Junior Team released defenseman Phil Kemp (Greenwich, Conn./Yale University) and forwards Jack Badini (Old Greenwich, Conn./Harvard University) and Hugh McGing (Chicago, Ill./Western Michigan University) ... The final 23-player roster consists of eight states, including Minnesota (10), Missouri (4), Michigan (3), Florida (2), Alaska (1), Connecticut (1), New York (1) and Washington (1) ... The U.S. will play in the first ever outdoor game in tournament history when it takes on Canada at New Era Field on Dec. 29, 2017. Tickets for that game, as well as all other tournament games, are available here ... Jim Johannson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) is serving as the general manager of Team USA for the ninth consecutive year ... Bob Motzko (St. Cloud, Minn.) is serving as head coach for the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team and joined behind the bench by assistant coaches Greg Brown (Scituate, Mass.), Grant Potulny (Grand Forks, N.D.), Kris Mayotte (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Steve Miller (Littleton, Colo.) ... USA Hockey’s international council, chaired by Gavin Regan (Potsdam, N.Y.), vice president of USA Hockey, has oversight responsibilities for all U.S. national teams ... All U.S. games will be broadcast live on NHL Network.

Canadiens lend Mete to Team Canada WJC camp

The Montreal Canadiens will loan rookie defenseman Victor Mete to Team Canada for this week's World Junior selection camp, the team announced Monday.

Canada opens camp Tuesday in St. Catharines, ON, and will end on Dec. 15. Mete will attempt to earn on a spot on Canada's tournament roster and play with the team from Dec. 26-Jan. 5. He failed to make last year's roster.

"We've made the decision to allow Victor Mete to join Team Canada's Selection Camp to give him an opportunity to participate in a very beneficial experience for his development," Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said in a statement. "The World Junior Hockey Championship is a very elite and very competitive tournament, and this can be a very rewarding opportunity for a young player."

In 27 games with the Canadiens this season, Mete owns four assists and a plus-5 rating while averaging 14:52 of ice time per game.

Terry scores shootout gold

Troy Terry has done it again. He was the only scorer of ten shootout shooters tonight, giving the USA the gold medal in an incredible 5-4 win over Canada.

Just 24 hours ago, he scored three goals in a shootout to defeat Russia and advance to today's championship game.

"Before the shootout, I was thinking about trying something different [than shooting between the legs]," Terry explained. "As I came down, I decided I just had to try to go five-hole."

“I think it’s a Troy effect,” teammate Jack Roslovic enthused. “No matter what, you can cover it all you want, you can sit in the butterfly, he’ll find the five-hole.”

U.S. goalie Tyler Parsons stopped all five Canadian shooters, none of which came particularly close to scoring.

Canadian counterpart Carter Hart stopped four shots, allowing only Terry's low shot between the pads.

For the Americans this marks their fourth U20 gold, following 2004, 2010, and 2013.

"It was a great atmosphere in the building," Parsons said. "It gave me chills. It's unbelievable to win this for your country."

“Unbelievable,” said Colin White. “There’s no feeling like it. We came together as a team. Four weeks now we’ve been together, and to win a gold medal together is just great. The calmness we’ve had all tournament was huge. We were down yesterday, down twice today by two goals. We stayed calm on the bench and fought back.We always knew we had each other’s backs all tournament, and we came together so well as a team.”

Canada had an early lead of 2-0--and let it slip away--as well as a more critical 4-2 lead early in the third, but the Americans simply refused to give up or be intimidated by the pro-Canadian crowd.

There were countless scoring chances and giveaways forced by puck pressure, end-to-end action, and blinding speed. Canada outshot the U.S., 50-36, but in the end it was another nifty move by Terry that proved the difference.

"It was such an up-and-down game," Terry said. "We were down two goals twice. I think when we were down 2-0 and came back to tie it we got some confidence because it sucked to go down two goals right away. But, we knew as a team that no matter how we played, we had the confidence to get back into the game."

Kieffer Bellows, with his second of the game, and Colin White tied the game midway through the third, and despite incredible opportunities to score, the game went into a fourth and final period.

"The 23 of us, all the way from summer camp to Buffalo camp, we knew we had to come up huge," said Bellows, the American-born son of longtime Canadian NHLer, Brian. "Our country needed us at this point with the hockey. Kids looking up to us, teenagers, older adults that love hockey so much were looking up to us. We came out on top, and hopefully the country’s proud of us."

The 20-minute, five-on-five overtime was breath-taking and heart-stopping, Canada dominating but both teams having several glorious chances to win. Indeed, the Canadians had the only power play, called because of a too-many-men penalty to the U.S., but it couldn't put the puck in.

The Fates seemed to will the puck out of the net, believing a shootout was needed to decide this incredible contest of speed, skill, strength, and determination.

Canada's defenceman Thomas Chabot, named tournament MVP, played a staggering 43:53 in defeat.

"I'm proud of what I've done in this tournament," he explained, "but it's so hard to lose this game. I put everything I could into representing my country as well as I could and help the team win. I may have got the MVP, but I'm heartbroken. It's very difficult right now."

The game was played before a crowd of 20,173, just shy of the single-game mark set in Ottawa in 2009 between Canada and Sweden (20,380).

Emotions were high and the tension thick as the final game of the 2017 World Junior Championship started. The Americans had defeated Canada soundly, 3-1, just six days earlier, but now the gold medal was on the line.

Both teams had developed and matured over the last two weeks, and with everything on the line players gave it their all, and more.

The game started at a feverish pitch, and the raucous Bell Centre crowd was as loud as it’s been this year for the juniors. But just as the Canadians seemed nervous and tentative on New Year’s Eve, tonight it was the Americans who seemed rattled by circumstance, the intensity, and the relentless puck pressure from Canada.

Canada took control early and maintained high energy throughout the period, getting the puck deep and forcing the U.S. defencemen to turn and skate back to make a play.

The opening goal came at 4:38 off the rush. Matt Barzal made a nice pass to Mathieu Joseph, going to the net. Joseph couldn’t handle the puck but it came to defenceman Chabot who buried the puck as Parsons was playing Joseph to shoot.

Canada made it 2-0 at 9:02 thanks to a scramble in the U.S. slot. Adam Fox made an ill-advised swat at the puck with his glove, and it came right to Jeremy Lauzon who waited patiently before ripping a shot to the stick side of a screened Parsons.

Two goals, two defencemen, two French-Canadians. 2-0.

The Americans had a chance to get back into it with a power play, but they would up incurring a minor of their own halfway through to nullify the chance.

To start the second, though, the U.S. came out with purpose and turned the tables on Canada, getting the puck deep, forechecking effectively, and putting Canada on its heels.

The reward came just 3:04 into the period when Jordan Greenway made a nice pass from the left-wing boards to defenceman Charlie McAvoy, the trailer on the play. He had plenty of time to take aim and drill a shot over Hart’s glove to cut the lead in half.

The crowd responded with tremendous support, and the Canadian players got their legs going, coming right back at their opponents. This wave was scuttled by a too-many-men penalty, though, and that cost Canada dearly.

A point shot from Fox drifted to the goal and hit Bellows on the way in at 9:30. Tie game.

The Canadians continued to skate and drew two late power plays, but some over-passing on their part and good defence by the Americans kept it a 2-2 game.

A third power play early in the third gave Canada a chance it didn't pass up. Nicolas Roy ripped a shot over Parsons' shoulder at 1:52, and at 4:05 they made it 4-2 when Mathieu Joseph raced past Casey Fitzgerald at the U.S. blue line and made a great deke on Parsons.

But the resilient Americans did not go queitly to defeat. Just 38 seconds later McAvoy fed Bellows in the slot, and his quick shot fooled Hart to make it 4-3.

They weren't done yet.

Fox made a sensational pass to Colin White to the side of Hart, and White's perfect deflection at 7:07 found the back of the net. Four goals in just over five minutes and the game was tied again, much to the shock of the Bell Centre fans.

“I saw [Fox] get the puck up there,” White described. “I was behind the net, and I knew if I stayed on that low post he’d get it to me. It was a great play by him, and I was lucky enough to tip that in.”

That set the stage for a wild finish that will go down in history as one of the greatest junior games ever played.

via World Juniors.

United States advances to WJC final

MONTREAL -- Troy Terry scored three goals in the shootout and the United States advanced to the final of the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship with a 4-3 win against Russia at Bell Centre on Wednesday.

The United States will play in the final for the first time since 2013 after Tyler Parsons (Calgary Flames) got his glove on Alexander Polunin's (2017 draft eligible) attempt, which then bounced off the crossbar.

U.S. forward Joey Anderson (New Jersey Devils) hit the crossbar in overtime, and Russia goalie Ilya Samsonov (Washington Capitals) followed that immediately with successive saves on shots by defenseman Caleb Jones (Edmonton Oilers) and Anderson.

Russia forward Denis Gurianov (Dallas Stars) tied it 3-3 with his second goal of the game at 6:04 of the third period, 50 seconds after Samsonov made a glove save on a penalty shot by Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes) at 5:14.

Colin White (Ottawa Senators) scored two goals for the United States, which fell behind 1-0 and 2-1 after never trailing in its first five games of the tournament. Luke Kunin (Minnesota Wild) also scored a power-play goal.

The United States, who defeated Russia for the first time in eight playoff round games, trailed for the first time in the tournament after Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild) scored his tournament-leading eighth goal to put Russia ahead 1-0 at 11:54 of the first period.

Russia's first lead lasted 7:11 until Keller's shot from the right corner struck White on its way past Samsonov to tie it at 1-1 at 19:05.

That ended a 167:24 shutout streak for Samsonov, who shut out Slovakia and Denmark in his previous two starts.

Gurianov gave Russia its second one-goal lead at 2-1 with his first goal of the game at 1:17 of the second period.

Kunin's power-play goal at 10:23 of the second tied it 2-2. White gave the U.S. its first lead, 3-2 with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle for his second of the game at 16:21.

Swiss shoot down Danes

Switzerland rallied from deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 to beat Denmark 5-4 in a shootout. This means Finland must play relegation and will not repeat as champions.

Finland has achieved an unfortunate first. It is the first time in IIHF history that a nation has won World Junior gold one year and played in the relegation round the next year.

Swiss forward Marco Miranda scored the only goal in the shootout. Switzerland outshot Denmark 53-22 and showed a never-say-die attitude. Danish goalie Kasper Krog was heroic in defeat.

"It was a pretty wild one," said Krog, who got an ovation from the Montreal crowd at the end of overtime. "We didn’t really stick to the game plan and we allowed them to get some offense that they maybe shouldn’t have had, because they have a good team. They know how to score."

In regulation, Yannick Zehnder scored twice for Switzerland, and Nico Hischier and Nando Eggenberger added singles for Switzerland. Jonas Siegenthaler had two helpers.

"The first period was [garbage]," said Siegenthaler. "The second period, we started good and scored some goals and came back into the game. We just needed to shoot the puck and go for rebounds. At the end it was 4-4, and we had some good chances in the overtime. Their goalie was good and they played good defence and everything. At the end we won in the shootout."

Regardless, the Danes have made the final eight for the third straight year. They’ve proved that taking them lightly is a mistake. Just ask Finland and the Czech Republic: here in Montreal, Denmark has defeated both of them for the first time in World Junior history.

"We’ve played up against a lot of good teams in the round-robin," said Danish captain Alexander True. "I for sure think we can be proud of ourselves. Every night we came out and competed with the other team."

But there's still some maturing for Denmark to do. The ability to clamp down on a big lead is an important key to success, and they blew leads of 3-0 and 4-1 versus Switzerland.

True and Mathias From tallied a goal and an assist apiece. Joachim Blichfeld and Niklas Andersen added singles. Oliver Gatz had two assists.

Switzerland has one more round-robin game against Finland on New Year's Eve and will aim to edge out Denmark for second place in Group A.

"We don’t have to score beautiful goals or whatever," said Siegenthaler. "We want to win and be second in the group. We’ll see next game."

The Danes drew first blood just 20 seconds in. Gatz’s point shot hit a leg in front and the puck bounced to True, who beat Swiss starter Joren van Pottelberghe high to the glove side.

At 3:45, Denmark went up 2-0. Again, Gatz shot from the point and Blichfeld, standing in front, deflected in his third goal of the tournament.

Denmark’s Morten Jensen was assessed a two-minute minor and 10-minute misconduct for a hit to the head of Siegenthaler. However, the Swiss didn’t test Krog, apart from a stiff Damien Riat one-timer from the left faceoff circle.

On Denmark’s first power play, Andersen gave Denmark a 3-0 lead at 13:40 with his one-timer set up by Mathias From.

Hischier gave the Swiss life with 2:04 left in the first, getting loose in front to bang in the rebound from Riat’s point shot past Krog. It was his second goal of these World Juniors.

Denmark stalled Switzerland's momentum with yet another early-period goal. At 0:28 of the second, From made it 4-1, executing a fabulous curl-and-drag move and firing high on the rush. It was the second goal in as many games for the 19-year-old Chicago Blackhawks prospect. He got the 3-2 overtime winner versus the Czechs after missing the first two games due to injury.

The Swiss refused to cave. At 6:29, Zehnder cut the Danish lead to 4-2, scoring with a backhand deke on a breakaway. Defenceman Nico Gross, one of just two 2000-born players in this tournament along with Sweden's Rasmus Dahlin, earned his first World Junior point with an assist.

Less than six minutes later, Eggenberger cut the Danish lead to one, popping a rebound over Krog to cap off a rush.

"I think we get a little high sometimes, and then when they got a couple of goals on us, we got a little low," said True. "So we gotta keep our emotions in check."

In the third period, Switzerland made it 4-4, as an onrushing, unchecked Zehnder slammed home his own rebound from the slot at 3:35.

At 7:35, the Swiss thought Damien Riat might have given them their first lead of the game during a goalmouth scrum. However, the play was video-reviewed and it was inconclusive whether the puck had crossed the line. Swiss coach Christian Wohlwend gave his team an animated lecture during the lengthy review.

"He just said it doesn’t matter what’s going to happen – just play the same way," said Siegenthaler.

Overtime solved nothing, although the Swiss dominated the play and defenceman Serge Weber nearly won it in the final minute.

"I think it’s good that we won this game," said Hischier. "If we’d lost this game in the shootout, it would have been hard after such a loss to play against Finland."

Swiss captain Calvin Thurkauf did not play against Denmark. He was serving a one-game suspension for a slew-foot on Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin. In Thurkauf’s absence, Riat wore the “C” for Switzerland. Thurkauf is eligible to return for the quarter-finals.

Slovakia avoids Finns

Slovakia played its best and most inspired game of the tournament, putting 36 pucks on net and skating to a crucial 4-2 win over Latvia.

The win gives the Slovaks three points in the Group B standings and means tomorrow's game against Russia (also with three points) doesn't have relegation-round implications.

The Latvians have finished the group stage with no wins and zero points and will now face Finland in a best-of-three relegation-round series.

"It was a tough start," captain Erik Cernak admitted, "but we played really well after that. We dominated, really. We were stronger on the puck and pressured them a lot. We knew we had to win. I'm very happy right now."

"They were the better team," affirmed Latvian captain Kristaps Zile. "We can do better, and we'll keep our heads high. Finland is a great team, but it's not impossible to beat them. We'll do our best."

It was a big game on the calendar all along, but soon after the opening faceoff it got even bigger. It was about that time that Switzerland defeated Denmark in a shootout in Group A in Montreal, sending Finland to the relegation round.

"We were watching the game before we went out and during the first period as well," said Milos Roman, who was dominant tonight with a goal and an assist. "We knew if we won tonight, we'd be in the quarter-finals, which was our ambition all along."

That, in turn, meant that the loser of today’s game at the ACC would face the daunting task of having to defeat last year’s gold medallists twice in three tries to avoid being relegated for 2018. Slovakia responded, peppering two Latvian goalies with 36 shots while surrendering only 24.

Latvia struck first, scoring just 3:40 into the game when a Karlis Cukste point shot drifted and dipped as it reached the net. The trajectory fooled Adam Huska and it slipped through his pads and in.

"That was their first shot on goal" Milos Roman said, "so we weren't nervous at all at that point. We knew we'd be the better team, and we scored soon after."

Indeed, four and a half minutes later the Slovaks got the equalizer thanks to some hustle by Milos Roman. Goalie Mareks Mitens had played the puck behind the net, leaving it for defenceman Tomass Zeile, but Roman pressured Zeile into making a bad pass.

The puck came right to Filip Lestan, and he found the net before Mitens had a chance to get square in the crease.

Most of the second was dominated by the Slovaks, who were the more determined side. They got to the loose pucks, moved up ice with confidence, and generated double the shots of the Latvians.

It wasn’t until 18:11 that they were rewarded, though. Milos Roman won a faceoff in the Latvian zone and went to the net. A point shot by Michal Roman was blocked in front, but Milos knocked in the rebound to give Slovakia a huge 2-1 lead heading to the dressing room.

"I won the faceoff and my brother took a quick shot from the point. Our wingers checked their men, leaving some space in front for me when the puck came free," Milos described.

Continuing where they left off, the Slovaks added a third goal just 41 seconds into the third off a point shot from Andrej Hatala that beat Mitens cleanly.

They got an insurance goal at 5:01 on another long shot, this from Milos Roman, that was redirected by a Latvian player in front of the goalie to make it 4-1.

Latvia had a two-man advantage later on, converting at 13:29 as Filips Buncis swatted home a loose puck from the crease, but it was too little too late.

via World Juniors.

USA ends NYE drought

The United States put on a shot- and pass-blocking clinic in defeating Canada, 3-1, this afternoon at the Air Canada Centre to claim first place in Group B.

The result marked the first New Year’s Eve victory for the U.S. over Canada in 18 years, a streak of seven games (six losses, one tie).

The U.S. was full measure for the win, playing with greater confidence and surety, capitalizing on early power plays, weathering the storm when Canada turned on the heat, and getting better goaltending at crucial moments from Joseph Woll than that provided Canada by Connor Ingram.

"The penalty killing was the story of the game for us," U.S. coach Bob Motzko said. "We weren't so good the last two games, and we made some changes, and tonight the killers were great."

In fact, Canada had nearly 12 minutes of power-play time in the game but managed only one goal and not many more scoring chances. The Americans scored on their first two man advantages.

"Obviously, it's great to win this game, but now we're focused on the quarter-finals," said Clayton Keller. "Our best hockey is yet to come. Beating Canada and Russia is huge, but the real hockey starts Monday."

"They're a great team," said Jordan Greenway, who had a goal and an assist in the first period, "but we kept our game simple and did what we had to do. "Our forwards, our defencemen, everyone was blocking shots when they had to. We have great chemistry playing defence as a team."

The Americans silenced the crowd early with two quick power-play goals. The first came at 4:31 on a play around the goal. Greenway feathered a nice pass from the corner to Colin White, and his quick shot beat Ingram to the far side.

Just a minute and a half later, after a lazy kneeing penalty by Philippe Myers, Greenway walked out form the corner and tucked the puck between Ingram’s pads, a soft goal, to be sure, but a great burst of speed from the American forward.

Later in the period Canada had a great chance to get on the board thanks to a two-man advantage for 47 seconds, but it got nary a decent shot off during the power play.

Canada had another opportunity early in the second when U.S. captain Luke Kunin took a five-minute major (and game misconduct) for interference. The Canadian on the other end of the hard hit, Myers, left the game and didn't return. Coach Dominique Ducharme confirmed after that Myers has a concussion and might miss the rest of the tournament.

This was followed by another minor soon after, giving the home side a two-man advantage for 1:48. This time they connected. Thomas Chabot got a rebound to the back side of the net and drilled it in before Woll could get over.

This started several minutes of intense pressure, but Canada couldn’t get the equalizer and the visitors silenced the crowd with a goal off a juicy rebound from Ingram. This time it was Jeremy Bracco who found the back of the net to make it a 3-1 game.

Canada tried valiantly in the third but was stymied at every moment. "We wanted to keep them to the perimeter," Greenway added. "Nothing complex; just get it out."

And now, both teams head to the quarter-finals against teams to be determined later tonight. For the U.S., today's win was another building block towards a medal, and for Canada it was a lesson learned.

via World Juniors.

Americans look sharp in 5-2 win

Team USA built on its improved play as its first game progressed, and the players came to the rink ready for a full 60 minutes of skating tonight.

They worked effectively in all facets of the game, beating Slovakia 5-2 and improving to 2-0 in the tournament. There were five goal scorers, and 12 players recorded at least one point for the winners.

"We were focused and ready to play," said captain Luke Kunin. "We did what we needed to do to be successful. We needed to get a good start and get pucks to the net. Everyone on the team contributed."

The Slovaks were much improved over their one-sided loss to Canada last night but were still decidedly the second best team on the ACC ice tonight. They are now 0-2.

Moving the puck with confidence and using their speed, the Americans pressured their opponents all night long and generated countless good scoring chances. In all, shots were 50-20 for the U.S., and the Slovaks have now been outshot in two games by a cumulative total of 94-26.

Slovakia coach Ernest Bokros decided to rest goaltender Adam Huska in favour of Matej Tomek tonight, and Tomek was busy and mostly impressive.

At the other end, coach Bob Motzko did the same, playing Joseph Woll and resting Tyler Parsons.

"Coach Motzko always says you have to come to the rink ready to play every day," noted defenceman Jack Ahcan. "That's what we did today. It's about our heart and our effort."

The U.S. opened the scoring at 10:15 of the first despite a great save by the goalie off a point-blank shot by Tanner Laczynski, but Tomek couldn’t control the rebound and Laczynski knocked in the loose puck.

The Americans went up 2-0 near the end of the period off a gaffe by Andrej Hatala at the U.S. blue line. As he prepared to play the puck he lost his balance and fell awkwardly, allowing a two-on-one with Clayton Keller and Colin White.

Keller waited, fired a nice saucer pass to White at the blue ice, and White redirected the puck in for a 2-0 lead.

But Slovakia showed some life. Midway through the period it had a power play and almost scored, moving the puck well and creating several chances. The Slovaks had a second man advantage later in the period and built on the success of the first, scoring at 18:08 on a great back-door pass from Oliver Pataky to Martin Fehervary who didn’t miss the open net.

The U.S. went up 3-1 at 2:03 of the second on a delayed penalty. Jack Ahcan got the puck to Tage Thompson in the slot. The pass was behind Thompson, who spun and roofed a shot in one motion over an unsuspecting Tomek. The highlight-reel goal seemed to deflate the Slovaks.

Six minutes later, a Charlie McAvoy point shot beat Tomek cleanly, and soon after Troy Terry added a fifth goal. The U.S. had just the comfortable lead it deserved.

Michal Roman got the only goal of the third, with 36.5 seconds remaining, on a long point shot to make the score marginally closer.

via World Juniors.

Swedes stay perfect

Sweden beat Switzerland 4-2 for its second straight Bell Centre win on Wednesday. Captain Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice, including the third-period winner.

Eriksson Ek accepted Carl Grundstrom's lovely backhanded feed from behind the net and zipped the puck through Swiss goalie Joren van Pottelberghe with 5:08 remaining.

"I’m playing with good players," said Eriksson Ek."They set me up and I just try to shoot. Today I was lucky and two went in."

Lias Andersson and Lucas Carlsson also scored for Sweden, and Grundstrom and Alexander Nylander had two assists apiece. Jonas Siegenthaler notched a goal and an assist for Switzerland, and Calvin Thurkauf had the other goal.

Van Pottelberghe did his best to keep his team's hopes alive as Sweden outshot Switzerland 46-15. In Switzerland's opening 4-3 overtime win versus the Czechs, he faced 39 shots.

"It’s a great booster when we know we have a guy in the back that can make saves when we need them," said Thurkauf. "Joren has been astonishing over the last two games. We hope we can count on that for the rest of the tournament."

The Swedes, who sit first in Group A, face winless Nordic rival Finland on Thursday. Switzerland battles Denmark in a crucial matchup on Friday.
Last year, the Finns edged Sweden 2-1 in the semi-finals en route to gold in Helsinki. So there's a grudge match coming up.

"I think it’s going to be a good battle," said Nylander. "They’ve lost two, so they’ll be coming at us hard. But we are mad from last year, so we’ll be on top of our game too, I think."

This game was tied 2-2 heading into the third period, and Swiss fans prayed their team could emulate Denmark's 3-2 upset over Finland the night before. Alas, it was not to be.

"For sure we’re proud that we played a pretty good game," said Thurkauf. "But in the end, we lost a very important game that we should have won, or at least gotten one or two points out of it."

Sweden struck early. On a Nylander set-up, Eriksson Ek fooled van Pottelberge with his quick release from the edge of the left faceoff circle at 4:13.

Nine seconds into their first power play, Switzerland made it 1-1 at 5:08. Siegenthaler’s centre point blast, the first Swiss shot on goal, eluded goalie Felix Sandstorm.

The blue-and-yellow boys looked unfazed. Grundstrom burst down the left side and dished it to Andersson, who corraled the puck and snapped a shot high glove side for a 2-1 lead at 6:38. It was the first World Junior goal for the 18-year-old HV71 forward, who had nine points for Sweden’s silver-medal U18 team in April.

Sandstrom slid across to make a nice save on Damien Riat’s late-period one-timer. He wasn't busy overall, as Sweden outshot the Swiss 15-6 in the opening frame.

However, Switzerland valiantly persevered in the second period, tying it up at 6:17. It took just 21 seconds to cash in on the power play. Hischier fed Thurkauf down low, and the Swiss captain slammed in a wrap-around for his second of the tournament.

The Swedes kept firing away, but couldn't convert. With just over three minutes left in the middle frame, van Pottelberge made a sharp glove save on Oliver Kylington, who cut to the net with a quick backhand.

"We had a lot of shots, but the goalie was playing good," said Eriksson Ek. "We need to be in front and not allow him to see the puck."

The Swiss called their time-out to strategize before a power play early in the third period, but it proved ineffective.
After Eriksson Ek's go-ahead goal, Lucas Carlsson gave Sweden some insurance, scoring on a high shot with 2:49 left. It was deserved, as shots favored Sweden 17-4 in the third.

"We played a little bit complicated in some of the areas," said Nylander. "We need to keep it more simple and we’ll do better. But they had a good game. They played good too. It was nice to get the win."

Highly touted 16-year-old Swedish blueliner Rasmus Dahlin didn't crack the scoresheet in this game, but impressed again with his skating, positioning and playmaking. He had two points in the opening 6-1 win over Denmark, a Swedish World Junior record for a player his age.

It was Sweden’s eighth straight win over Switzerland at the World Juniors. The last Swiss victory over Sweden was on 3 January, 2003, 5-3 in relegation play.

In 2010, Sweden trounced Switzerland 11-4 in the bronze medal game, the largest margin of victory ever in a World Junior medal game.

via World Juniors.

Canada edges Russia

Captain Dylan Strome had two goals while Matt Barzal had a goal and two assists. Tyson Jost was a force in the first period for Canada as well.

Ilya Samsonov was the busier of the two goalies. He faced 37 shots, many good scoring chances, while Carter Hart stopped 14 of 17 shots for Canada.

"He’s a big goalie who moves well," Strome said of Samsonov, "so for us to get five by him today says a lot about us. We’re shooting the puck and going to the net hard."

In the end, Canada’s ability to pressure the Russian defence and force turnovers proved the difference. The score was close, but Canada had the greater puck possession simply by virtue of tenacity.

"We knew coming in it was going to be an intense game," Barzal said. "Emotions were high, but we had a good start to the game and built off that. We were never too high or too low."
"It was a great game," said Russian forward Denis Guryanov, a 2015 Dallas Stars draft choice. "Both teams played with speed. We played a full 60 minutes, but there were times Canada was a bit more fortunate than we were."

Canada got just the start it wanted thanks to great vision from Philippe Myers and clever positioning from Jost. Jost managed to get in behind the Russian defence in the slot while Myers had the puck along the left-wing boards. He found Jost with a perfect pass, and Jost made a nice deke from in close, roofing a backhand over Samsonov at 3:11 for the early lead.

But the Russians tied the score midway through on a sneaky shot from Mikhail Sergachyov from a long way out. Hart was screened, and the wrist shot drifted over his shoulder at 9:47 to make it a 1-1- game.

Jost was the best player on either side in the first, forechecking effectively, creating chances, and jumping on loose pucks.

The game settled into a stalemate in the second, neither side wanting to make an error, neither side willing to be too creative if it meant risking a turnover. Canada went ahead at 13:15 on a power play when Barzal fired a cross-ice pass to Strome, who ripped a one-timer past a lunging Samsonov.

Then, at 17:08, Nicolas Roy stripped Denis Alexeyev of the puck inside the Russian blue line and in one motion wired a shot to the far side, past a surprised Samson.

The hosts added to their lead early in the third on another power play. This time Strome returned the favour, getting the puck in front where Barzal, off balance, got enough of a shot off to beat Samsonov at 3:03.

Kirill Kaprizov brought the Russians to within two goals two minutes later on a Russian man advantage, his shot finding the five hole between Hart's pads at 5:12.

Strome added another goal with the extra man at 9:06 when a Barzal shot came off the crossbar right to the captain, who sniped it in for a 5-2 lead.

A minute and a half later, another deadly wrist shot beat Hart to the far side, this one courtesy of Yegor Rykov.

Both teams are right back at it tomorrow. Russia plays Latvia in the early game while Canada takes on Slovakia in the late game.

"Slovakia won bronze two years ago," Strome noted. "They have some good players, including one guy from Erie who’s a huge defenceman in his fourth World Juniors [Erik Cernak], so they’re a good team."

via World Juniors.

Czechs nip Finns

With Adam Musil screening in front, Spacek cut to the middle of the ice and lofted a long shot past Finnish goalie Veini Vehvilainen. Spacek, a 19-year-old Winnipeg Jets prospect, is playing in his third straight IIHF World Junior Championship.

"It was a good feeling," said Spacek. "This goal is special in my career."

Daniel Krenzelok had the other goal for the Czechs, who sang as they came off the ice. Joona Luoto replied for the Finns.

"Everybody was disappointed," said Finland's Eeli Tolvanen. "We wanted to win the first game and get more confidence. We just have to keep going."

The Czechs haven’t won any U20 medals since 2005’s bronze in Grand Forks, North Dakota. They finished fifth last year under coach Jakub Petr, who's returned for 2017.

Finland, which beat Russia in overtime in last year’s final in Helsinki, is looking for its third gold medal in four years. Finland also topped host Sweden in overtime in the 2014 final in Malmo.

"We can still win this tournament," said Finnish captain Olli Juolevi, a tournament all-star last year with nine points. "We haven’t lost anything, kind of. It’s just one game, and we have to be ready to play tomorrow against Denmark."

The Czechs, whose average age is 19 to Finland's 18, outshot their opponents 30-23.

Named Finland's Player of the Game, Vehvilainen probably deserved a better fate. He is most noted for his superb 60-save performance in a 2-1 overtime loss to the United States in the final of the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship. The Jyvaskyla native was Finland’s starter at the World Juniors, but was replaced by Kaapo Kahkonen in the quarter-final against Canada and never got the net back.

Last year, Finland edged the Czechs 5-4 in a strange run-and-gun affair. This game in Montreal was much tighter.

The Czechs came out aggressively and drew first blood at 4:27. Krenzelok floated a shot from the left point that bounced off Henrik Borgstrom’s back. Vehvilainen got a piece of it with his glove, but it still found the top corner. Moments later, the Finnish goalie made a fine save on Tomas Soustal’s slot attempt on a 2-on-1 rush.

At 8:56, Finland equalized on Luoto’s gutsy solo effort. He stole the puck from Musil in the neutral zone, got past defenceman Petr Kalina, and lifted it past Czech goalie Jakub Skarek on the short side.

In the second period, the teams traded ineffective power plays. Tolvanen had an impactful shift with about seven minutes left in the frame, cutting in from right wing and forcing Skarek to make a nice pad save before hammering Lukas Jasek into the boards.

Early in the third, the Finns were penalized for too many men on the ice, but the Czechs squandered their advantage. Finland pulled Vehvilainen in the final minute, seeking the tying goal, but to no avail.

"All three periods, we didn’t play like individuals," said Czech forward Filip Chlapik. "We played like a team. I think that’s why we won."
Finland had more high-profile firepower at the 2016 tournament with the top line of Jesse Puljujarvi, Sebastian Aho, and Patrik Laine. All three forwards were eligible to return for 2017, but are with their respective NHL clubs.

"Those guys are some of the best players right now in the NHL," said Juolevi. "It’s a big loss for any team, especially Finland. But we can’t do anything about that. They’re not here now, and we have to play with this team."

Similarly, the Czechs don’t have anyone of David Pastrnak’s calibre this year. He and Laine are currently tied for second place in NHL goals (19) behind Sidney Crosby (24).
Jukka Rautakorpi is seeking his first World Junior medal as Finland’s head coach. He previously coached the team in 1999 (fifth), 2008 (sixth), and 2009 (seventh). Karri Kivi helmed the 2014 gold and Jukka Jalonen was in charge last year.
The last time Finland lost a World Junior game was 28 December, 2015, falling 6-4 to Russia.

Next up for the Finns is Denmark on Tuesday evening. The Czechs have little time to rest, playing the early game against Switzerland that day.

"Switzerland is a good team," said Spacek. "They lost 4-3 to Canada in overtime [in exhibition]. So it’s not easy. I hope we play tomorrow like today."

via World Juniors.

Americans win opener

Two goals in the middle period broke a 1-1 tie to ensure the victory. Clayton Keller had two goals for the Americans, who limited Latvia to just 12 shots on goal.

"We take every game and team seriously," said assistant captain Colin White, who had a goal and an assist. "We had a few days off before this game, so it took us a bit of time to get our legs going. Overall, there were a lot of positives we can take for the next game."

This marked Latvia's first U20 game at the top level since 2013. It won Division I-A last year to earn the promotion and looked every bit the second-best team this afternoon. Nonetheless, it also showed pluck and determination against an American team that was much faster and more skilled with the puck. 

The U.S. showed plenty of skill but also took some uncharacteristic penalties and allowed some odd-man rushes that might have been more costly against a top-six nation. Still, as the game went on, it played better and better.

"We don't want to take so many penalties, of course," White added, "but at the same time, we have a great penalty kill, so we're confident."

The Americans opened the scoring at 6:27 of the first on a routine shot by Patrick Harper from the slot. His shot fooled Mareks Mitens in the Latvian goal and staked the U.S. to an early lead. 

Latvia was outclassed the first half of the period and didn’t get its first shot until near the ten-minute mark. It wasn’t until four minutes later it got another shot, but that one counted. 

A loose puck squirted up the middle of the ice where Renars Krastenbergs, celebrating his 18th birthday, chased it down. He went in alone on Tyler Parsons and made a nice deke at 15:22 to tie the score and bring most of the crowd to its feet.

"Those cheers helped us a lot," said Mitens. "It was such an amazing feeling when everyone got behind us."

"I looked behind me to see how much time I had, and I saw the goalie back up a bit, so I made a move and it worked," Krastenbergs said.

Interestingly, whereas the Latvians took the first half of the period to register a shot, the Americans were without one for all of the second half of the opening 20.

The U.S. took a 2-1 lead at 6:29 of the middle period. After allowing several odd-man rushes to their opponents, they went ahead on a nice pass by Tage Thompson to Colin White on a two-on-two rush. White finished the play by roofing a shot over Mitens’s glove from in close.

The Latvians had a great chance to tie the score with a two-man advantage for 1:24, but the U.S. penalty kill didn't even allow so much as a shot on goal.

"Whenever you have something good like that happen, you get a lot of momentum," White suggested. "That kill really got us going."

Indeed, after a lengthy period of sustained pressure, Clayton Keller made it 3-1 with only 1:15 remaining in the middle period, putting the game out of reach.

Keller added his second at 12:19 of the third on a screen shot from the slot, and Jeremy Bracco found a hole between the pads of Mitens late in the game to make it 5-1. Jordan Greenaway closed out the scoring with 39.9 seconds remaining.

The U.S. has tomorrow off while the Latvians play Russia in the afternoon.

via World Juniors.

Sweden hammers Danes

The opening game of the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship was a smashing success for Sweden, which beat Denmark 6-1 at Montreal's Bell Centre on Boxing Day.

Alexander Nylander led the way with two goals for Sweden. Carl Grundstrom, Rasmus Dahlin, and Joel Eriksson Ek chipped in a goal and an assist apiece, and Jonathan Dahlen added a single. Goalie Felix Sandstrom earned the win as shots favored Sweden 33-22.

"We’re here to win," Nylander said. "That’s our goal, to go to the final and come home with a medal – gold, hopefully. It’s good to get the first win and get our confidence up."

Sweden is seeking its first medal since settling for silver on home ice in Malmo in 2014. The Juniorkronorna have won World Junior gold twice all-time (1981, 2012).

It was an auspicious debut for Tomas Monten as Sweden's head coach. The 39-year-old served as an assistant in 2014 and 2015.

Nikolaj Krag got the only Danish goal. The Danes, who finished eighth at the last two World Juniors, continued their history of futility against Sweden in World Junior play. They lost 10-1 on 28 December, 2007; 5-1 on 27 December, 2014; and 5-0 on 30 December, 2015.

"That’s a tough team we played against today," said Danish captain Alexander True. "They’re a good team, and we weren’t sharp enough in the D zone. They took advantage of that."

Life doesn't get any easier for Denmark, which faces defending champion Finland on Tuesday.

"This year, they don’t have the [same kind of] young stars as last year," Denmark's Christian Wieritz said. "They’ve got a really good team, but there are chances. We’re taking it game by game."

Halfway through the first period, Nylander opened the scoring, stickhandling into the slot and sliding a wrister past Danish goalie Lasse Petersen. The nifty 18-year-old, the son of retired NHL star Michael Nylander and brother of Toronto Maple Leafs rookie William Nylander, led Sweden last year with nine points.

It was 2-0 at 18:24, as Eriksson Ek, the Swedish captain, converted the rebound from Rasmus Dahlin’s shot. Dahlin, a 16-year-old defenceman from Frolunda Gothenburg, is touted as a prospective #1 overall pick for the 2018 NHL Draft. His World Junior debut will add to the buzz.

"I just did my best," said Dahlin. "I had luck."

In the second period, Dahlen, another World Junior rookie, scored Sweden’s third goal, going to the net to finish off a sweet Grundstrom pass on the rush. Dahlen is the son of longtime NHLer Ulf Dahlen, who led the 1987 World Juniors in scoring and won World Championship gold in 1998.

After Danish rearguard Oliver Larsen turned the puck over at the Swedish blue line, Grundstrom got a shorthanded breakaway. Petersen had stopped him on another breakaway early in the first, but this time, the Swedish assistant captain went high glove side for a four-goal lead at 6:26.

When Denmark pressed, Sandstrom was there to shut the door. He got his right toe on a dangerous Christian Mathiasen-Wejse wraparound attempt.

"Lasse, our goalie, had a couple of great saves," said Danish coach Olaf Eller. "But Sandstrom, at the other end, had more than a couple of great saves. Then as the goals were coming, we fell out of the game. It was disappointing in the middle of the second period."

Dahlin made it 5-0 at 13:12, stickhandling deftly inside the blue line before fluttering a high shot past Petersen. Nylander put Sweden up 6-0 at 18:22. Standing in front, he coolly tipped in David Bernhardt's feed from the point.

Nothing could be said in either dressing room during the second intermission that would change the final outcome, although Krag spoiled Sandstrom's shutout bid on a short-side wrister with just over two minutes left. Sweden gets a day off before facing Switzerland on Wednesday.

Asked what Sweden can do to improve against the Swiss, Nylander said: "Maybe play a little simpler, support each other better, and get more shots on net. We played good, but I think we can still do better."

The Swedes dressed an experienced lineup, with seven returnees from the 2016 tournament. Denmark had six returnees. Danish winger Mathias From, a 2016 fifth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, missed the opener. He is still recovering from an injury suffered at practice on 15 December, but is expected to play later on.

Eller is coaching Denmark for the third straight year at the World Juniors. He is the father of former Montreal Canadiens forward Lars Eller, who now plays for the Washington Capitals.

Canada is hosting the World Juniors every second year through 2021. Montreal and Toronto also co-hosted in 2015, and Vancouver and Victoria will co-host in 2019. Hockey Canada has yet to allocate the sites for 2021.

via World Juniors.

World Junior Championship Group B preview

By MIKE G. MORREALE
NHL.com

The 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship Group B field includes the silver- and bronze-medalists from 2016, as well as a hockey-fanatical host country, all in pursuit of gold at the 11-day tournament.

The 2017 WJC begins Monday with games in Toronto and Montreal and runs through Jan. 5, 2017.

Group B includes the United States, Russia, Canada, Latvia and Slovakia. They will play preliminary-round games at Air Canada Centre in Toronto beginning Monday.

Russia won the silver for a second straight tournament after losing 4-3 to Finland, the host country, in the 2016 gold-medal game. The U.S. defeated Sweden 8-3 to take home the bronze, its first medal since winning gold in 2013.

The 2017 U.S. team lacks some of the star power of recent years but still has plenty of talent.

"The strength of our team is our depth at the forward and goaltending position," U.S. coach Bob Motzko said. "We don't have the Auston Matthews or Jack Eichel or a bona fide No. 1 guy, but what we're seeing is tremendous depth and good hockey players. We have to play to our depth, and if the guys can all buy in it's going to be a difficult team to go against."

Canada won the gold medal in 2015, when the tournament also was held in Toronto and Montreal.

Here's a look at the Group B field (teams listed in alphabetical order):

Canada

Coach: Dominique Ducharme

2017 draft watch: None

Schedule:  Dec. 26, Russia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 27, Slovakia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 29, Latvia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 31, United States (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN)

Outlook: The host country will field an experienced group with plenty of savvy and offensive flair in hopes of erasing memories of their disappointing finish in 2016, when Canada returned home without a medal for the third time in the past four tournaments. Goaltending shouldn't be an issue with Carter Hart (Philadelphia Flyers) and Connor Ingram (Tampa Bay Lightning) competing for playing time. Canada ranked ninth among 10 teams in save percentage (.849) and fifth in goals-against average (3.58) in the 2016 tournament, but Hart, who plays for Everett in the Western Hockey League, was the Canadian Hockey League goaltender of the year in 2015-16 and leads the WHL with a 1.85 GAA and is second with a .928 save percentage. Ingram, who plays for Kamloops, leads the WHL with a .935 save percentage. There are 10 first-round NHL draft picks on the roster, including captain Dylan Strome (Arizona Coyotes) and alternates Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders) and Thomas Chabot (Ottawa Senators).

Latvia

Coach: Eriks Miluns

2017 draft watch: Deniss Smirnovs, C, Geneve Jr. (SUI-JR); Kristians Rubins, D, Medicine Hat (WHL); Renars Krastenbergs, LW, Oshawa (OHL)

Schedule: Dec. 26, United States (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 27, Russia (4 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 29, Canada (8 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 30, Slovakia (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN)

Outlook: Players who could play a significant role are forwards Martins Dzierkals (Toronto Maple Leafs, No. 68, 2015) of Rouyn-Noranda in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Rudolfs Balcers (San Jose Sharks, No. 142, 2015) of Kamloops in the Western Hockey League, as well as defenseman Karlis Cukste (Sharks, No. 130, 2015) of Quinnipiac University.

Russia

Coach: Valeri Bragin

2017 draft watch: Alexander Polunin, LW, Yaroslavl (RUS) 

Schedule: Dec. 26, Canada (8 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 27, Latvia (4 p.m. ET, NHLN); Dec. 29, United States (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 31, Slovakia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN).

Outlook: Russia has received solid goaltending in big spots, and the 2016 WJC was no exception when Ilya Samsonov (Washington Capitals, No. 22, 2015) backstopped the win against the United States in the semifinals. Bragin is back behind the Russia bench for his fifth World Junior Championship. Samsonov is one of four first-round NHL draft picks on the roster, along with defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (Montreal Canadiens, No. 9, 2016) and forwards German Rubtsov (Philadelphia Flyers, No. 22, 2016) and Denis Gurianov (Dallas Stars, No. 12, 2015). One player to watch is Polunin, who had three goals and 12 shots on goal at the 2016 WJC. Bragin might have Polunin (5-foot-9, 172 pounds) alongside left wing Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild), a returning player, and center Mikhail Vorobyov (Philadelphia Flyers).

Slovakia

Coach: Ernest Bokros

2017 draft watch: Samuel Bucek, LW, Shawinigan (QMJHL); Marian Studenic, RW, Hamilton (OHL); Adam Ruzicka, C, Sarnia (OHL)

Schedule: Dec. 27, Canada (8 p.m. ET, NHLN); Dec. 28, United States (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 30, Latvia (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 31, Russia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN).

Outlook: One player to keep an eye on is defenseman Erik Cernak (Los Angeles Kings, No. 43, 2015). Cernak often is compared to defenseman Michal Rozsival of the Chicago Blackhawks. Goaltender Matej Tomek (Philadelphia Flyers, No. 90, 2015) is in his second season at the University of North Dakota. Ruzicka (6-3, 202), 17, is a B-rated prospect on NHL Central Scouting's players to watch list for the 2017 draft. He has 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 32 OHL games.

United States

Coach: Bob Motzko

2017 draft watch: Jake Oettinger, G, Boston University (H-EAST); Jack Ahcan, D, St. Cloud State University (NCHC)

Schedule: Dec. 26, Latvia (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 28, Slovakia (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 29, Russia (3:30 p.m. ET, NHLN); Dec. 31, Canada (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN)

Outlook: The U.S. has plenty of strength and quickness in all areas. There are six players on the roster from Boston University, including first-round NHL draft picks Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes, No. 11, 2016) and Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins, No. 14, 2016). University of Wisconsin forward Luke Kunin (Minnesota Wild, No. 15, 2016) is captain; forward Colin White (Ottawa Senators, No. 21, 2015) of Boston College and McAvoy will serve as alternates. Motzko has stressed to his players the need to perform with what he called structured freedom. He wants them to understand the system in place without the puck in order to guarantee retrieval, but also has given them the green light to be creative and passionate with the puck in order to create offense.

Three players cut from Sweden's WJC 2017 team

Three players were cut from the Swedish WJC 2017 team on Sunday:
• Jacob Moverare, D (LAK)
• John Dahlström, FW (CHI)
• Jonathan Davidsson, FW

This means 16 year-old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, draft eligible in 2018, gets the chance to play in the World Juniors.

Finland beats Russia for 2016 WJC Gold Medal

"The Neutral Zone" Game Report

HELSINKI – Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Kasperi Kapanen scored off a wraparound 1:33 into overtime to give Finland a 4-3 victory against Russia in the gold-medal game of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland, on Tuesday.

Kapanen, the 22nd pick in the 2014 NHL Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins and traded to the Maple Leafs on July 1, 2015, took a pass from Aleksi Saarela (New York Rangers) and beat Russian defenseman Sergei Boikov (Colorado Avalanche) in the right circle before curling the cage and tucking the puck just inside the left post for his second goal of the tournament.

The victory gives Finland its second gold medal in three years. Russia, which medaled for the sixth straight year, won a second straight silver medal.

USA beats Swede for 2016 WJC Bronze Medal

"The Neutral Zone" Game Report

USA 8, SWEDEN 3 (BRONZE MEDAL GAME)

Forwards Anders Bjork, Ryan Donato and Matthew Tkachuk each scored two goals to help lead the United States to an 8-3 victory against Sweden in the bronze-medal game of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland, on Tuesday.

Bjork and Donato are selections of the Boston Bruins in the 2014 NHL Draft, and Tkachuk is an A-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's November players to watch list for the 2016 draft.

USA won its ninth medal in the history of the tournament, and fifth bronze. The Americans also defeated Sweden 4-2 in 2011 and 2-1 in 2007 to win the bronze medal.

Recaps of today's WJC games

RUSSIA 2, USA 1

HELSINKI -- Yegor Korshkov scored the game-winning goal and had an assist as Russia advanced to the gold-medal game of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship with a 2-1 win against the United States on Monday.

Russia will face host Finland in the gold-medal game Tuesday (1:30 p.m. ET; NHLN). Finland advanced to the final by defeating Sweden 2-1 in a semifinal earlier Monday.

FINLAND 2, SWEDEN 1

Antti Kalapudas scored the winning goal Monday as host Finland advanced to the gold-medal game.

Kalapudas scored on a second-period power play to send Finland to its second WJC championship game in three years. Finland beat host Sweden 3-2 in the 2014 gold-medal game.

"The important thing is we were good defensively today," Finland forward Roope Hintz (Dallas Stars) told The Hockey News. "A couple of games we've given up five goals and lost. So this was

Recaps of today's World Junior Championship games

FINLAND 6, CANADA 5
Defending champion Canada lost to Finland 6-5 in the quarterfinals of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki on Saturday.

Right wing Patrik Laine, a 2016 NHL Draft eligible prospect, scored twice for Finland, including the game-winner on the power play with 5:50 remaining.

Antti Kalapudas, Aleksi Saarela (New York Rangers), Julius Nattinen (Anaheim Ducks) and Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes) had goals for Finland, which plays Sweden in one semifinal on Monday.

Finland's Jesse Puljujarvi, also a top prospect for the 2016 draft, had three assists and leads the tournament with 15 points.

USA 7, CZECH REPUBLIC 0

Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, had a hat trick to lead the United States into the semifinals against Russia on Monday.

Alex Nedeljkovic (Carolina Hurricanes) made 28 saves to earn his first shutout of the tournament.

Matthews scored his first two goals 4:53 apart in the second period and completed his hat trick 24 seconds into the third period. He leads all scorers with seven goals.

Nick Schmaltz (Chicago Blackhawks), Christian Dvorak (Arizona Coyotes), Scott Eansor and Alex DeBrincat also scored for the United States, which has outscored its opponents 25-5 in winning four of its five games.

RUSSIA 4, DENMARK 3 (OT):

Vladislav Kamenev scored his second goal of the game at 5:00 of overtime to move unbeaten Russia into the semifinals.

Kamenev (Nashville Predators) had forced the overtime by scoring with 44 seconds remaining in the third period.

Yegor Korshkov and Artur Lauta each had a goal and an assist for Russia, which outshot Denmark 46-21.

Russia lost 5-4 to Canada in last year's final and is trying to win the gold medal for the first time since 2011.

SWEDEN 6, SLOVAKIA 0:

Linus Soderstrom (New York Islanders) made 17 saves for his second shutout of the tournament, moving unbeaten Sweden into the semifinals.

Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings), Jens Looke (Coyotes), Axel Holmstrom (Detroit Red Wings), Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson (Boston Bruins), Alexander Nylander and Christoffer Ehn (Red Wings) scored for Sweden, which put the game away with three third-period goals.

"Feels good to be through to the semifinals," Holmstrom told the IIHF website. "I thought we played a really solid game."

Slovakia goalie Adam Huska stopped 49 shots.

SWITZERLAND 5, BELARUS 1:

Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks) and Denis Malgin (Florida Panthers) had a goal and two assists each for Switzerland in the first relegation-round game.

Noah Rod (Sharks), Damien Riat and Julien Privet also scored for Switzerland, which outshot Belarus 41-21.