WJC 2015 Day 8 Recap
Sunday January 4, 2015
Nic Petan (Portland Winterhawks) took sole posession of the tournament scoring lead on Sunday night with three goals in Canada’s 5-1 victory over Slovakia to set up a shot at gold on Monday. Petan now has four goals and seven assists in six games as he and linemates Curtis Lazar (Ottawa Senators/Edmonton Oil Kings) and Connor McDavid (Erie Otters) continue to connect offensively. In other semi-final action, the Russians got past Sweden in an exciting game on Sunday. Here’s a summary of all the action.
CANADA 5, SLOVAKIA 1
Three goals from Nic Petan (Portland Winterhawks) joined by a trio of assists from linemates Connor McDavid (Erie Otters) and Curtis Lazar (Ottawa Senators/Edmonton Oil Kings) led Canada past Slovakia 5-1 in semi-final action on Sunday. The Slovaks held the Canadian lead at just one through 38 minutes of play, but the Canadians would ignite offensively in the second half enroute to three goals in the second period and a pair in the third.
Petan got the Canadian powerplay working 4:27 into the first with assists from Lazar and McDavid. Petan took a Lazar feed off the rush to beat Slovakian goaltender Denis Godla over the glove as the Air Canada Centre erupted.
The score would stay 1-0 until 18:06 into the second as Petan hit the scoresheet again, this time on a nifty pass from McDavid, who managed to sweep a puck through traffic onto the stick of Petan for the finish.
Shea Theodore (Seattle Thunderbirds) would jump into the rush just over a minute later and take a feed from Anthony Duclair (New York Rangers/Quebec Remparts) before dekeing Godla to the forehand to slip a low shot past him, increasing Canada’s lead to 3-0.
The Slovaks got on the board just prior to time expiring in the second. Prince George Cougars forward David Soltes was the beneficiary of some hard work by linemate Matej Paulovic, who sent a puck goalward for him to redirect past Zachary Fucale (Quebec Remparts) with just three seconds remaining in the period to make the score 3-1.
Canada would nullify any Slovakian momentum generated for their late second period goal early in the third. Duclair pinballed a puck off the skate of Godla from behind the goal line and into the net at 2:47 after the Slovakian netminder had stopped his first attempt off the rush.
Petan would finalize his hat-trick at 11:59, connecting with McDavid to beat an outstretched Godla to make the final 5-1.
The Slovakians improved upon their 8-0 loss to Canada to open the tournament on December 26, but were still outshot 44-15 on Sunday, with Petan leading the way for Canada with seven shots on goal.
Canada now prepares for a gold medal date with Russia on Monday night at 8:00pm ET while Slovakia squares off with Sweden for bronze at 4:00pm ET.
RUSSIA 4, SWEDEN 1
Russia will play for its first gold since 2011 on Monday after a momentous 4-1 victory over Sweden on Sunday afternoon in Toronto. Alexander Sharov scored twice while goaltender Igor Shesterkin was solid once again as Russia avenged a 2-1 loss to Sweden in last year’s semi-finals.
After outshooting Sweden 12-6 in the opening frame, Russia got on the board 11:18 into the second. Forward Anatoli Golyshev found Sharov busting down the middle off the rush as he beat Swedish goaltender Linus Soderstrom over the glove for the 1-0 lead.
The Russians extended the lead just 1:32 later on a Ziat Paigin powerplay slapshot from the point with assists from Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Rinat Valiev (Kootenay Ice) and Vladislav Kamenev.
After the Russians thought they took a late second period lead on a goal that was disallowed upon review, Sharov put his club up 3-0 just 1:31 into the third as linemates Maxim Mamin and Vladimir Bryukvin capitalized on a Swedish turnover to find him for a hard shot.
Lucas Wallmark gave the Swedes some life with his fourth goal of the tournament at 11:30, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Russians re-established the three goal cushion on a two-on-one at 12:49 off the stick of Mamin.
The Swedes will compete for bronze medal on Monday at 4:00pm ET, looking for a medal in the fourth consecutive year. Russia takes on Canada for gold on Monday at 8:00pm ET.
SWITZERLAND 5, GERMANY 2 (Saturday)
Guelph Storm forward Pius Suter scored twice, giving Switzerland a second straight 5-2 victory over Germany in relegation play on Saturday. Timo Meier (Halifax Mooseheads) bolstered the Swiss attack with a goal and an assist of his own as Germany was relegated from the tournament while Belarus will compete in the 2016 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Helsinki, Finland.
For full coverage of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, including updates and schedules, visit worldjunior2015.com or hockeycanada.ca.