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.

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.

Team Russia defeats Team Finland to reach semifinals

TORONTO -- Team Russia qualified for the semifinals of the World Cup of Hockey 2016 with a 3-0 win against Team Finland at Air Canada Centre on Thursday.

Team Russia will play Team Canada here on Saturday.

"It's going to be a fun game," Team Russia captain Alex Ovechkin said. "It's nice to be a part of obviously. Two teams with a great history. Again, it's going to be tough. It's going to be hard because we play here in Canada. But it's going to be fun, fun game."

Vladimir Tarasenko, Ivan Telegin and Evgeni Malkin scored for Team Russia. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.

Team Russia (2-1-0, 4 points) finished second in Group B and plays the winner of Group A, Team Canada, in the first semifinal (7 p.m. ET; ESPN2, CBC, TVA Sports).

Team Sweden, the Group B winner, plays Team Europe in the other semifinal on Sunday (1 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, TVA Sports).

Team Russia had to win Thursday against already eliminated Team Finland (0-3-0, 0 points) in order to advance. Team North America (2-1-0), the other team in Group B, also had four points, but Team Russia won the tiebreaker because of its head-to-head 4-3 win on Monday.

Team Russia scored 3:42 into the second period when Tarasenko took a nifty pass from Ovechkin and tucked a shot past goaltender Tuukka Rask.

Tarasenko's goal came one minute after Team Finland was denied one by the post behind Bobrovsky after Mikael Granlund put a one-timer past him.

"We started off well and played [a] pretty good first period," Team Finland coach Lauri Marjamaki said. "We created so many good scoring chances, but we didn't score. After penalty killing [to start the] second period, we have a good scoring chance, for example, Granlund, but he only [hit the] post, and then [a] goal against.

"Everybody understands that if you score, you get so much energy and positive thinking in your team. But now, we didn't score."

PLAYER & PUCK TRACKING INSIGHTS from SAP
The fastest shot in the game came from Alex Ovechkin, who hit 99 mph, but missed the net

Telegin made it 2-0 at 5:01 of the second.

Ovechkin said the post hit by Team Finland may have been the turning point.

"Right after that, we score two goals right away," he said. "It kind of give us a breath, and we just play simple and don't give them nothing."

Malkin made it 3-0 at 3:39 of the third period.

As was the case throughout the tournament, Team Finland struggled to find offense. In three games, it scored one goal and it went its final 124:07 without scoring.

"In the last two games, against Sweden and Russia, we played good as a team and we battled hard, I think we did our best, we just couldn't get pucks in," Team Finland center Aleksander Barkov said. "It was great defending by the opposite team, but of course if you don't score you can't win the games, and I think it's the biggest thing in hockey. You have to score."

Goal of the game:

Tarasenko took a nifty pass from Ovechkin, who stickhandled past two players, and tucked a shot past Rask, who could not get across in time, for a 1-0 lead. Team Russia caught a break on the play when a clearing attempt hit Tarasenko and stayed inside the zone.

Save of the game:

Rask played well but faced a number of high-quality chances. One came at 18:54 of the second period, when the game was 2-0. Nikita Kucherov put a hard shot into Rask from the faceoff circle and the puck squeezed through his leg pads and started dribbling toward the goal line. Rask reached back with his stick and cleared the puck away before Kucherov could reach it. The puck went right to Kuznetsov, who slammed it off the right post and it skittered away.

Unsung moment of the game:

With the score 0-0 late in the first period, Russia was on the penalty kill after Ovechkin took a neutral-zone penalty at 17:23. Twice, Team Russia defensemen Alexei Emelin went to one knee to block slap shots from Patrik Laine to defuse scoring opportunities.

Highlight of the game:

Telegin showed impressive offensive skills on his goal, coming out of the corner to take a pass from Vadim Shipachev and then cutting across the goal mouth with a bit of patience before sliding a shot past Rask, who could not get to the far post.

They said it

"It's always nice to play against Canada. The whole world knows that the best players play here. They're always the favorite in every tournament. We have to accept the challenge. Show those guys what we've got." -- Team Russia forward Evgeny Kuznetsov

"Yeah, we just couldn't find the net. I think we created a lot of good chances, but it just didn't bounce this tournament for us. We just need to get the one ugly one, maybe, and we can get more goals. But it's a short tournament and sometimes you can't find the net." -- Team Finland forward Teuvo Teravainen

"I am proud of my team, but it is not so easy to come to this game and play like that, and dedication to our style of play was great. But if you didn't score, you can't win. That's the way. Of course it would be interesting to see the exact same [Team Finland], for example, in the Olympics in 2018. The future seems bright, nevertheless, for Team Finland." -- Team Finland coach Lauri Marjamaki

Need to know

Team Russia center Pavel Datsyuk did not play because of a lower-body injury sustained during practice Wednesday. His status for the semifinal is unknown. He was replaced by Vadim Shipachev, who had an assist. Defenseman Nikita Nesterov and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy were the other scratches for Team Russia. … Team Finland scratched forward Erik Haula, defenseman Esa Lindell and goalie Mikko Koskinen. … Team Finland forward Mikko Koivu injured his foot blocking a shot in the second period and missed some time before returning in the third. "I think he is OK," Marjamaki said.

What's next

Team Russia: A semifinal game against Team Canada at Air Canada Center on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN2, CBC, TVA Sports).

Team Finland: The tournament is finished for the team which lost three games by a combined score of 9-1.

via WCH2016.com.

Team North America easily defeats Team Finland

TORONTO -- Team North America began the World Cup of Hockey 2016 by making an emphatic statement.

Forwards Jack Eichel, Johnny Gaudreau, Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin scored in a dominant 4-1 win against Team Finland in the preliminary-round opener for each team at Air Canada Centre on Sunday.

The team of players 23 and under from Canada and the United States was playing its first competitive game and put on a show, taking over in the second period with three goals and dominating Team Finland with wave after wave of speed and skill.

"We're here to play," Gaudreau said. "Hopefully teams don't take us lightly. I think we're a fast, speed, skilled team and hopefully we can keep proving people we belong here."

Team North America outshot Team Finland 18-6 in the second period, and goaltender Matt Murray was hardly tested over the 20 minutes because his teammates kept the puck in the Team Finland zone for entire shifts at a time.

"The second period was a cold shower for us," Team Finland coach Lauri Marjamaki said. "They got better, they won every battle, they skate hard. They are so impressive."

Marjamaki said goaltender Pekka Rinne, who made 39 saves, was the best player for Team Finland.

Murray's shutout was lost when Valtteri Filppula scored for Team Finland at 15:53 of the third period.

"I think it's just about winning the game," said Murray, who made 24 saves. "It [stinks] in this tournament because I know goals against is a tiebreaker at some point, so, yeah, it hurts a little bit, but we won and that's what matters. I think we played the way we needed to tonight. We were on the puck quick and moving the puck fast and shooting the puck a lot, which I think is key."

Eight of Team North America's 12 forwards had a point in the game and defenseman Colton Parayko was the only player with two points, assisting on the goals by Gaudreau and MacKinnon.

Auston Matthews, the No 1 pick at the 2016 NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs, assisted on Eichel's power-play goal at 5:03 of the first period on his third shift in his first game at his future home rink.

"It's a pretty good feeling to go out there and contribute," Matthews said. "All four lines really brought something tonight. We definitely put them on their heels."

Team Finland kept pace in the opening period before Team North America pulled away in the second, starting with a goal by Gaudreau at 5:27. Drouin made it 3-0 at 7:27 of the second period, using a toe drag to get around defenseman Ville Pokka and put a dangerous shot on goal before scoring on his own rebound.

MacKinnon completed the scoring at 14:37 of the second, corralling a rebound of a Parayko shot and deking around Rinne to score.

Goal of the game:

With Team North America on the power play, Matthews beat Team Finland defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen along the left wing boards and put a rising shot on goal that Rinne couldn't handle, leaving a rebound that Eichel put behind him at 5:03 of the first period, giving Matthews a point in his first game at Air Canada Centre. "Power-play breakouts is something we've worked on and [Connor McDavid] made a great kick out and [Matthews] was able to escape a check on the wall and drive the net," Eichel said. "That's a great play by him."

Save of the game:

Just before the midpoint of the first period, Team North America center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got the puck to the right of the Team Finland net, put a saucer pass through the legs of Filppula and right on the tape of Drouin. But Drouin's shot was met by a sliding Ristolainen, who got across before Rinne and prevented a goal.

Unsung moment of the game:

With defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere in the penalty box, Team North America had to withstand a Team Finland power play at 1:37 of the first period. Murray made a great save on Filppula and on Miikko Koivu on the rebound, maintaining the scoreless tie. Eichel scored less than two minutes later to give Team North America a 1-0 lead. "I think that's a big point in the game," Murray said. "I think if they score on that, obviously they have the momentum and maybe it's a different game. I thought the penalty kill did a great job and kept them to the outside for the most part. I think that kill was huge."

PLAYER & PUCK TRACKING INSIGHTS from SAP
Team Finland defenseman Olli Maatta achieved the fastest speed (29 mph) and traveled the most aggregate distance (5,816 meters/3.61 miles) Sunday against Team North America.


Highlight of the game:

Team Finland made a poor clearing attempt in their defensive zone that was intercepted by Parayko, who put the puck down and shot it from the point. The shot looked to be going wide, but Gaudreau, who was in front of the net, jumped and spun in the air while tipping the puck on his backhand behind Rinne at 5:27 of the second period.

They said it

"We started to realize what was going to work against them and how they were playing. That's what made us successful. We stuck to our game plan, kept the puck away from Rinne, put it behind their defensemen and used our speed. That's how we're going to have success in this tournament." - Eichel

"I was impressed by that team, they really took it to us and showed their individual skill, but also as a team they were extremely dangerous. I'm not going to take anything away from them, but I thought that we weren't ready to go tonight. We made too many mistakes, we weren't skating and that was the result." - Rinne

Need to know

Team North America coach Todd McLellan ran a very balanced bench, with no forward playing fewer than 12:12 of ice time (Brandon Saad), and no one higher than 16:04 (Nugent-Hopkins). ... Matthews and Dylan Larkin of Team North America each had a game-high five shots on goal. ... Team Finland forward Jori Lehtera played a team low 8:44.

What's Next?

Team North America: Plays Team Russia in the second preliminary round game for each team on Monday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN2, SN, TVA Sports).

Team Finland: Plays Team Sweden in the second preliminary round game for each team on Tuesday (3 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVA Sports).

via WCH2016.com.

Russia, Finland release 2016 World Cup of Hockey Rosters

"The Neutral Zone" Staff Report

Team Finland and Team Russia have released their rosters for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey on Wednesday.

Here are the rosters:

Team Russia:

Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets, G

Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche, G

Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning, G

Dmitry Kulikov, Florida Panthers, D

Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens, D

Dmitry Orlov, Washington Capitals, D

Artem Anisimov, Chicago Blackhawks, F

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings, F

Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning, F

Nikolay Kulemin, New York Islanders, F

Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals, F

Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins, F

Vladislav Namestnikov, Tampa Bay Lightning, F

Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals, F

Artemi Panarin, Chicago Blackhawks, F

Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues, F

Team Finland:

Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins, G

Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators, G

Olli Maatta, Pittsburgh Penguins, D

Rasmus Ristolainen, Buffalo Sabres, D

Sami Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks, D

Esa Lindell, Dallas Stars, D

Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild, F

Jori Lehtera, St. Louis Blues, F

Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers, F

Mikael Granlund, Minnesota Wild, F

Jussi Jokinen, Florida Panthers, F

Valtteri Filppula, Tampa Bay Lightning

Leo Komarov, Toronto Maple Leafs, F

Joonas Donski, San Jose Sharks, F

Lauri Korpikoski, Edmonton Oilers, F

Teuvo Teravainen, Chicago Blackhawks, F

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.

Recaps of today's WJC games

United States 10, Switzerland 1: Auston Matthews, the likely top pick of the 2016 NHL Draft, had two goals and two assists to lead the United States to a 10-1 victory against Switzerland in a Group A preliminary-round game at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Helsinki Ice Hall in Helsinki, Finland.

Fellow top draft prospect Matthew Tkachuk and Christian Dvorak (Arizona Coyotes), Zachary Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Colin White (Ottawa Senators) had three-point games. The win moved the U.S. into second place in Group A with six points, three behind first-place Sweden.

Nick Schmaltz (Chicago Blackhawks), Ryan Donato (Boston Bruins) and Brandon Carlo (Boston Bruins) also scored for the U.S.

Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks) scored for Switzerland, which finished fifth in Group A with one point. Switzerland will play Belarus in the relegation round.
The U.S. finishes preliminary-round play Thursday against Denmark (9 a.m. ET; NHLN).

Finland 8, Slovakia 3: Tournament scoring leader Jesse Puljujarvi, an A-rated skater by NHL Central Scouting in its November players to watch list for the 2016 draft, had a four-point game to lead Finland in a Group B game at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki.

Puljujarvi, who has 10 points in three games, had one goal and three assists.

Finland took a 3-2 lead into the third period before breaking out with five goals to put the game away.

The host country is third in Group B with six points. Finland plays Czech Republic on Thursday to finish the preliminary round.

Sweden 5, Denmark 0: Oskar Lindblom (Philadelphia Flyers) had one goal and one assist and goaltender Felix Sandstrom (Philadelphia Flyers) made nine saves for the shutout for Sweden in a Group A game.

Sweden won its third straight game and clinched first place in Group A with nine points.

Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings) opened the scoring 13 seconds into the game at Helsinki Ice Hall. Gustav Forsling (Chicago Blackhawks) gave Sweden a 2-0 lead with a power-play goal midway through the first period.

William Lagesson (Edmonton Oilers) and top 2016 NHL Draft prospect Alexander Nylander also scored for Sweden.

Sweden finishes preliminary-round play Thursday against Canada (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Denmark finishes group play Thursday against the U.S. (9 a.m. ET; NHLN).

Czech Republic 5, Belarus 3: Simon Stransky, a top prospect for the 2016 draft, was one of five scorers in the victory for the Czech Republic in Group B play.

Vladislav Goncharov's power-play goal gave Belarus a 3-2 lead after two periods. But 2:06 into the third period Jiri Smejkal scored to tie the game, and 2:14 later a goal by Radek Vesely put the Czech Republic ahead for good. Defenseman Dominik Masin (Tampa Bay Lightning) closed the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final minute of the third.

Defenseman Stepan Falkovski, a C-rated player to watch for the 2016 draft, and Yegor Sharangovich also scored for Belarus.

The Czechs, with two wins and an overtime loss, are second in Group B with seven points. They play Finland to finish group play. Belarus will play Switzerland in the best-of-3 relegation round.

Recap of today's WJC games

SWEDEN 1, UNITED STATES 0

HELSINKI -- New York Islanders goaltending prospect Linus Soderstrom made 46 saves and Alexander Nylander scored as Sweden shut out the United States 1-0 on Monday in the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Nylander, a top prospect for the 2016 NHL Draft, scored on a second-period breakaway. He has one goal and four assists in the tournament to lead Sweden, which is 2-0 in Group A

The United States, which fell to 1-1 after beating Canada in its opener, couldn't score despite having eight power-play chances in the game. They had 20 power-play shots and 14:48 of total power-play time.

It was the first time the U.S. lost to Sweden in the WJC since 1996, ending a 12-game winning streak.

The U.S. will face Switzerland on Wednesday and Denmark on Thursday.

RUSSIA 6, FINLAND 4:

Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild) had a goal and an assist and Yegor Korshkov chipped in with three assists for Russia.

Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes) gave the host side the lead when he beat Russian goalie Alexander Georgiev early in the first period at Hartwall Arena. Kaprizov tied it on the power play but Patrik Laine restored Finland's one-goal cushion with 67 seconds left in the opening frame.

Aleksi Saarela (New York Rangers) scored 53 seconds into the second period to make it 3-1 before the Russians scored four times on Finnish netminder Veini Vehvilainen in a span of seven minutes 17 seconds.

Andrei Svetlakov started the rally with a shorthanded goal and Pavel Kraskovski tied the game on the power play. Vladislav Kamenev (Nashville Predators) scored another goal with the man advantage and Alexander Polunin capped the outburst with an even-strength goal.

Saarela halved the Russian lead early in the third period but Radel Fazleyev tacked on an insurance goal for the Russians, who lead Group B with five points. Finland, which opened the tournament with a victory, has three points.

CZECH REPUBLIC 2, SLOVAKIA 0

Dominik Lakatos and David Pastrnak (Boston Bruins) scored and Vitek Vanecek (Washington Capitals) made 18 saves for the shutout.

Pastrnak opened the scoring with a power-play goal late in the second period at Hartwall Arena. Lakatos added an insurance goal midway through the third period.

Slovakia has split its first two games while the Czechs have one win and an overtime loss.

Sunday's World Juniors Scores: Denmark 2, Switzerland 1 | Slovakia 4, Belarus 2

USA, Finland among World Juniors winners for Dec. 26

USA 4, CANADA 2

HELSINKI -- Louis Belpedio, a Minnesota Wild draft choice, scored the go-ahead goal and Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, added an insurance goal late in the third period as the United States beat Canada 4-2 on Saturday in each team's first preliminary game of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Colin White (Ottawa Senators) and Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets) also scored for the United States (1-0-0), while Alex Nedeljkovic (Carolina Hurricanes) made 25 saves for the win.

Matt Barzal (New York Islanders) and Dylan Strome (Arizona Coyotes) supplied the offense as Canada (0-1-0) began its defense of the 2015 World Junior title. Mason McDonald (Calgary Flames) stopped 21 shots in net.

FINLAND 6, BELARUS 0

HELSINKI - Jesse Puljujarvi had two goals and an assist and Veini Vehvilainen stopped all 10 shots he faced as Finland shut out Belarus 6-0 on Saturday at the world junior hockey championship.

Sami Niku, Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Repo and Patrik Laine also found the back of the net for the Finns (1-0-0), who scored five times in the third period. Sebastian Aho tacked on three assists.

Ivan Kulbakov started in net for Belarus (0-1-0) and turned away 26-of-30 shots in 47:26 before giving way to Vladislav Verbitski who made five saves in relief.