WJC 2016 Day 7 Recap
Saturday January 2, 2015
Quarter-final action in Finland saw the host Finns, the United States, Russia and Sweden advance to the semi-final round while Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Slovakia suffered losses.
Canada’s elimination from gold medal contention means that a new nation will take home gold for a seventh straight year at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
FINLAND 6, CANADA 5
Finland battled back from a pair of deficits to eliminate Canada from gold medal contention at the World Junior Hockey Championship as Patrik Laine netted the winner with 5:50 remaining in the third period for a 6-5 decision.
Canada jumped out to a 2-0 lead on first period goals from Travis Konecny (Ottawa 67’s) and Dylan Strome (Erie Otters), but the Finns would claw back to tie the score at two before Lawson Crouse (Kingston Frontenacs) reinstated the Canadian lead.
Aleksi Saarela and Julius Nattinen (Barrie Colts) answered for Finland to send them into the third period leading 4-3.
Mitch Marner (London Knights) would draw Canada even twice in the third as the two sides were knotted at five with 14 minutes remaining.
Laine capitalized on a two-man advantage for the late winner as defenceman Olli Juolevi (London Knights) earned his third assist of the game, giving him nine on the tournament as he surpassed Ryan Ellis (2008-09) for the most points by a 17 year-old defenceman in the history of the event.
Canada outshot Finland 34-29 despite surrendering eight powerplay opportunities in the game.
This marks the first time since 1998 that Canada won’t play for a medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Dylan Strome (Erie Otters), Joe Hicketts (Victoria Royals) and Mathew Barzal (Seattle Thunderbirds) were named Canada’s top three players in the tournament.
UNITED STATES 7, CZECH REPUBLIC 0
Alex Nedeljkovic (Niagara IceDogs) recorded a 28-save shutout while Auston Matthews netted a hat-trick as the United States blanked the Czech Republic 7-0.
Forwards Christian Dvorak (London Knights), Scott Eansor (Seattle Thunderbirds) and Alex DeBrincat (Erie Otters) all scored while Ryan MacInnis (Kitchener Rangers) and Brandon Carlo (Tri-City Americans) collected assists.
Czech forward Michael Spacek (Red Deer Rebels) was joined by defenceman Dominik Masin (Peterborough Petes) in being named two of the Czech Republic’s top three players of the tournament.
The United States prepares for a semi-final clash against Russia on Monday.
SWEDEN 6, SLOVAKIA 0
Draft eligible winger Alexander Nylander (Mississauga Steelheads) scored while linemate Dmytro Timashov (Quebec Remparts) gathered an assist in Sweden’s 6-0 quarter-final win over Slovakia.
Goaltender Linus Soderstrom recorded his second shutout of the tournament as Sweden advanced to a semi-final date with neighbouring Finland for a chance to advance to play for gold on Tuesday.
Jens Looke, Adrian Kempe, Axel Holmstrom and Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson all had two points, avenging last year’s bronze medal loss to Slovakia.
Slovakian goaltender Adam Huska made over 50 saves in the loss.
RUSSIA 4, DENMARK 3 OT
Vladislav Kamenev kept Russia alive with 44 seconds left in the third period before winning the game five minutes into overtime, edging a resilient group from Denmark 4-3.
Russia continues to seek its first gold since 2011 as blueliner Ivan Provorov (Brandon Wheat Kings) had a pair of assists and Artur Lauta had one goal and one helper.
The Russians outshot Denmark 46-21 as goaltender Thomas Lillie kept his team in the game with a 42-save performance.
Danish forward Alexander True (Seattle Thunderbirds) was named one of his club’s top three players of the tournament, finishing with a goal and an assist in five games.
Russia advances to face the United States in a semi-final matchup on Monday.
SWITZERLAND 5, BELARUS 1
Switzerland prevailed 5-1 in the their first relegation round matchup against Belarus.
San Jose Sharks prospect Timo Meier (Halifax Mooseheads) and linemate Denis Malgin each had a goal and two assists in the victory.
Switzerland outshot Belarus 41-21 in the game.
The two teams square off again on Sunday.
For full coverage of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, including updates and schedules, visit worldjunior2016.com or hockeycanada.ca.
