Canada to play for U18 Bronze after 5-4 OT loss to USA
CRIMMITSCHAU, Germany -Tyler Biggs scored in overtime to earn the United States a thrilling 5-4 semifinal win over Canada at the world under-18 hockey championship. The loss was a heart-breaking one for the Canadians, who valiantly rallied from a 4-1 third-period deficit to force overtime.
“It hurts,” Canadian team head coach Mike Williamson said Saturday after the loss. “But our guys buckled down and they believe
“I’m so proud of them for holding together and finding a way to get that hockey game back.”
Biggs beat Canadian goalie Malcolm Subban on a wrist shot at 4:22 of a wide-open 10-minute overtime period.
The Canadians outshot the U.S. 5-3 in overtime and had two glorious scoring chances early in the extra session. That would’ve capped a most improbable comeback considering short-handed goals by Zach Larraza and Reid Boucher staked the unbeaten Americans to a seemingly safe 4-1 advantage early in the third.
“It’s pretty tough to go into a hockey game and give up two short-handed goals and expect to win,”Williamson said. “We just gave them a little bit of time and space on a couple of plays and we had a few opportunities that didn’t find their way into the back of the net.
“I do believe either team could be advancing but in the end it’s them and not us.”
Brett Ritchie began the comeback with a power-play goal at 9:15 of the period. And with Subban on the bench for an extra attacker while on a power play, the Canadians pulled to within 4-3 on Ryan Murphy’s goal with 1:35 remaining in regulation time.
Canada then tied it on Mark Scheifele’s goal with 53 seconds to play and Subban, who stopped 37 shots, on the bench.
Boucher finished the game with two goals for the Americans, who improved to 7-2 all-time against Canada inthis event. J.T. Miller had the other.
The U.S. will chase a third straight tournament title Sunday when it faces off against Sweden. Canada squares off against Russian for the bronze medal.
And Williamson said Russia will ice a very talented and competitive squad in the bronze medal game.
“They’re very, very skilled,” he said. `”At times they’re patient and wait for you to make a mistake and other times they push the pace.
“Mentally we have to be very strong and like we’ve said all along we have to keep the game out of the middle of the ice and keep it against the wall and be hard on them if they come into the middle.”
Williamson said while the Canadian team’s ultimate goal was to play for the gold medal, he doesn’t expect motivation to be a problem Sunday against Russia.
“This is a proud group and they showed that,” Williamson said. “We came here for a gold medal so we’re all hurting right now and it was really a big kick in the guts.
Story courtesy of Hockey Canada and The Canadian Press