CANADA OFF TO WJHC SEMI FINALS
(Courtesy of TSN.ca) — Canada clinched a bye to the semi-finals with a 4-1 victory over Russia at the World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia on Monday.
Once again, a big hit was a big factor, but this time the Canadians were on the receiving end and took advantage of the ensuing extended powerplay. Canadian defenceman Tyler Wotherspoon was the victim of a first period hit from behind by Valeri Nichushkin and had to retreat to the dressing room for further medical attention. Nichushkin was initially given two minutes for cross-checking, but officials then upgraded the charge to a five-minute major for checking from behind and a game misconduct.
Dougie Hamilton made it worth Wotherspoon’s pain when he fired a rocket from the point past Russian goalie Andrei Markov for a powerplay goal and a 1-0 lead.
Mark Scheifele scored his fourth of the tournament on the same powerplay to make it 2-0 for Canada before the major penalty was over.
That powerplay and the resulting goals turned out to be the difference in the game.
The Russians came back quickly from the early deficit, with Nikita Kucherov converting a Scheifele turnover with 2:24 left in the opening period, but they weren’t able to do any more damage in the face of some stifling defence.
Jonathan Drouin, promoted to the top line for this game by Canadian coach Steve Spott in an effort to spark the offence, responded with Canada’s third goal. Drouin converted a wrap-around just after Canada had killed off a penalty early in the second period to make it 3-1.
Jonathan Huberdeau capped the scoring with an empty-netter after Malcolm Subban keep the Russians at bay in the third period, including a save on a late penalty shot.
While Canada won Group B and advanced directly to Thursday’s semi-finals, Russia will be forced to play a quarter-final game against Switzerland, the third-place team from Group A, on Wednesday. The Swiss team features Brandon Wheat Kings’ scoring leader Alessio Bertaggia.
In earlier action Monday, the United States clinched a quarter-final berth with a 9-3 win over Slovakia. The Americans will face the Czechs in the quarters after the Czech Republic beat Switzerland 4-3 in overtime. The Swiss made the playoff round after Finland was dumped 7-4 by Sweden and fell into the relegation round. The win gave Sweden first place in Group A and a bye to the semi-finals.
