The United States’ hopes of repeating as World Junior champions have been dashed, as the Americans were bested 4-2 by Sweden in the semifinals Thursday afternoon. A three-goal third period by Sweden, including two shorthanded goals in 38 seconds, sealed the victory.
Brady Tkachuk and Kieffer Bellows scored Team USA’s only goals in garbage time in the last eight minutes of the team’s semifinal defeat.
While the United States outshot Sweden, 31-20, netminder Filip Gustavsson was the difference maker for the Swedes as opportunities came fast and furious within the final minutes of the game.
Adding insult to injury, Edmonton Oilers prospect Kailer Yamamoto was injured in the waning moments of the contest.
Kailer Yamamoto helped off the ice after being chopped in the back of the leg pic.twitter.com/O5xHqIRMfK — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 4, 2018
The United States came out sharp in the first period, as they outshot Sweden 8-5 in a scoreless first frame. However, the biggest moment early on came from Joseph Woll on a Swedish power play. Alexander Nylander’s shot seemed destined for the back of the net, but Woll slid across and closed the pads before the puck could cross the goal line.
One too many penalties came back to bite the United States in the second period, as Elias Pettersson finally got past Woll on the power play. A sustained cycle and extra room gave Pettersson the opportunity to move to the top of the left circle, where he fired the puck top shelf over Woll for the 1-0 score.
While the second period ended in Sweden’s favor, the United States had its chances. A rare 3-on-0 rush on a power play late in the second period was stopped by Gustavsson, and the remainder of the man-advantage was negated after an ill-timed penalty.
The third was where things started to fall apart for Team USA. After killing a Swedish power play, a counter-rush up the ice ended in a gorgeous give-and-go that saw Lias Andersson pot the goal to double the Swedish lead 2-0.
Moments later, the United States got a much-needed power play, but allowed two shorthanded tallies in 38 seconds to give Sweden the 4-0 lead in almost no time. The first goal, and eventual game winner, came off the stick of Oskar Steen on a 2-on-1 rush where the forward opted to shoot high on Woll.
Then, Axel Jonsson Fjällby finished the Swedish scoring with another high tally that bested Woll top shelf on the glove side shorthanded. Woll was pulled from the game after the goal, as Jake Oettinger took over the remaining half of the period.
The United States did fight back, as they scored two goals in the final eight minutes of the game. Bellows’ seventh goal of the tournament came when the Americans finally cashed in on the power play, as his in-tight move helped get a potential comeback started.
Kieffer Bellows gets USA on the board with a nice goal pic.twitter.com/edbm5TcoTE — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 4, 2018
However, one more goal from Brady Tkachuk was all they would get as the United States was only able to beat netminder Gustavsson just twice on 31 shots.
The United States will play for World Junior bronze on Friday against the loser of the Czech Republic vs. Canada semifinal match.
Canada will face Sweden in the final of the 2018 World Junior Championship after defeating the Czech Republic 7-2 in Thursday's semifinal.
Drake Batherson scored three times for Canada, with Sam Steel, Maxime Comtois, Jordan Kyrou and Boris Katchouk also tallying.
A sluggish start by the Canadians meant that it was actually the Czechs who got on the board first, with Filip Zadina scoring the game's opener early in the first period. It took Canada half of the opening frame to find their legs, with the Czech Republic coming within inches of doubling the lead on a power play before the North Americans took control of the game.
MORE: Only gold will satisfy Swedes
Steel tied the game midway through the first period before Batherson got his first of the night moments later. From then on it was all Canada as the proverbial floodgates opened on an overmatched Czech team. Zadina was the lone bright light for the Czechs, as he added a third period goal to bookend his opener and cap an impressive tournament.
MORE: Angelo Esposito's new lease on life
Canada moves on to the gold medal final against the Swedes, who dispatched the host United States 4-2 earlier on Thursday. It'll be a meeting of the two group winners from the preliminary round, with Sweden looking to remain undefeated for the entire tournament in Friday's final.
Sporting News provided live scoring updates and highlights throughout the game. Check out how it all went down below. (All times Eastern.)
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FINAL SCORE: Canada 7, Czech Republic 2
3rd period
10:33 — The power play ends with a Canadian shot on goal.
10:30 — Not quite what I had in mind, but Timmins goes to the penalty box for hooking.
10:28 — The energy seems to have been drained from the game as the inevitable result edges closer. Of course, every time I mention that nothing has happened for a while, a goal get scored. Let's see if that works...
10:25 — Nothing comes of the Czech power play.
10:21 — Holding penalty against Canada.
10:19 — Czech Republic scores! Zadina gets his second of the game, and opportunistic goal. Canada 7-2 Czech Republic
#2018NHLDraft prospect @HFXMooseheads forward Filip Zadina follows up his own rebound and bangs in his 2nd of the game for 🇨🇿@narodnitym 🇨🇿
🏒#WorldJuniors 🇨🇿 pic.twitter.com/2MckiJ7R2M — TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 5, 2018
10:17 — Canada successfully kills the penalty, and outshoots the Czechs 3-0 in the process. It's safe to say the Czechs are out of gas.
10:14 — Batherson penalized for tripping. Czech power play upcoming.
10:10 — Canada scores! Katchouk makes something happen with a nice shot. Canada 7-1 Czech Republic
10:09 — A fairly uneventful first five minutes to the period.
10:03 — The final frame is underway.
2nd intermission
9:57 — Canada has outshot the Czechs 25-14.
9:49 — While we're waiting for the third period to begin, have a look at how Sweden won the earlier semifinal against the U.S.
HIGHLIGHTS: A strong Swedish @Trekronorse team stays undefeated and beat host @USAHockey 4-2 in the semi-finals to play for gold tomorrow! Watch here the best sequences from the game. More on https://t.co/ICLuruWPk3 #WorldJuniors #WJCinBUF pic.twitter.com/8YkOa3WEj6 — IIHF (@IIHFHockey) January 5, 2018
9:47 — It's safe to say that was a dominant period for the Canadians. Breakout star Drake Batherson's magic continues as the Senators prospect has a hat trick. Yesterday, Mike Ashmore wrote about Batherson's headline-making ability both on and off the ice ---> LINK
9:45 — Canada will start the third period on the power play.
2nd period
9:44 — Canadian power play coming up.
9:38 — Goalie change klaxon. Jakub Škarek now in net for the Czechs, although I don't think any blame lies at the feet of starter Josef Kořenář.
9:37 — Canada scores! Batherson heard my poor attempt at humour and pots his third goal of the game! Canada 6-1 Czech Republic
. @Senators draftee Drake Batherson notches his 3rd of the game, and his 7th of the tournament for the 🎩🎩🎩!
🇨🇦 @HC_WJC 🇨🇦leads 6⃣-1⃣
🏒 #WorldJuniors 🇨🇦 #Sens pic.twitter.com/HmPaSAyUSA — TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 5, 2018
9:36 — It's been nine minutes without a goal, and it feels strange.
9:27 — Canada scores! The floodgates have opened and Jordan Kyrou gets in on the action. We've heard "Hey Baby!" five times already tonight... Canada 5-1 Czech Republic
9:26 — As Canada tries to finish things off in the semis, the awaiting Swedes will not be satisfied with anything but a gold medal ---> LINK
9:22 — Canada scores! A full-strength goal as Howden feeds Comtois. Canada 4-1 Czech Republic
9:20 — All three Canadian goals have come on the power play tonight.
9:18 — Canada scores! Batherson again! Another deflection off a shot from the point. Canada 3-1 Czech Republic
9:16 — Penalty to Salda for roughing after a crazy sequence in front of the Czech net that included a sliding block by a defenceman and a last-gasp stop to prevent a surefire Canada goal. The Canadians head to the power play.
9:11 — Canada survives that penalty kill.
9:09 — Zadina should have had a goal after he is wide open in front of the net, but his one timer waffles through the goalmouth and wide. Hart was beaten, but the puck stays out.
9:08 — Katchouk is called for high-sticking, and the Czechs head to the power play.
9:05 — The period is underway.
1st intermission
8:51 — Canada started slowly but really came on strong during the latter half of the period. The aggressive play by the Canadians resulted in an 11-5 shot advantage over the first 20 minutes, with Canada going 2-2 on the power play. The Czechs were 0-1 with the man advantage.
8:47 — The horn sounds with Canada up 2-1.
1st period
8:43 — Canada scores! Batherson's great tournament continues as he deflects a shot past Kořenář. Canada 2-1 Czech Republic
8:38 — Canada is heading back to the power play after Michnáč is called for cross checking.
8:36 — The goal was under review but it's confirmed. Game on.
8:34 — Canada scores! Steel hits a one-timer to tie the game up! Canada 1-1 Czech Republic
8:33 — It's Canada's turn to go on the power play now.
8:29 — Canada starting to grow into the game after starting off a bit shell shocked. The Czechs deserve credit for taking the game to the Canadians, who haven't really been challenged in this tournament.
8:25 — Canada kills off the penalty but the Czechs got two shots and hit the crossbar during the man advantage. Close call there.
8:22 — The Czechs go on the power play after Formenton is called for interference.
8:17 — This is the first time Canada has trailed at any point in the tournament.
8:16 — Czech Republic scores! Zadina pulls up inside the Canadian zone and unleashes a wrist shot. Canada 0-1 Czech Republic
8:09 — Sam Steel gets the first shot of the game just over a minute in. Kořenář with the save.
8:08 — We're underway!
Pre-game
8:04 — We're minutes from puck drop.
8:02 — Canada has the best goals for and goals against of any team in this tournament. Make no mistake, the Canadians are the favourites.
7:42 — The players are on the ice for pre-game warmups.
7:36 — Here's how Canada will line up tonight:
Just over 3⃣0⃣ minutes away from 🇨🇦🆚🇨🇿. Here's how the Canadians will line up in their semifinal... #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/kWWWeS0OPV — #WorldJuniors (@HC_WJC) January 5, 2018
6:43 — Oilers prospect Kailer Yamamoto had a nasty end to the USA-Sweden game
Kailer Yamamoto helped off the ice after being chopped in the back of the leg pic.twitter.com/O5xHqIRMfK — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 4, 2018
6:31 — And it's Sweden who will await the winner of this game. The Swedes downed the USA 4-2 in the first semifinal.
It's over!
Sweden is on way to gold medal game at #worldjuniors2018
🇸🇪 4 - 🇺🇸 2
FULL DETAILS ▶️ https://t.co/f5FJLysdP0 pic.twitter.com/HJBPmziNg4 — Sporting News Canada (@sportingnewsca) January 4, 2018
6:25 — The Canadians are in the building.
6:10 — Good news for Canada as a crucial piece of the defence is back.
The semifinals of the 2018 World Juniors kicked off with a clash between powerhouse Sweden and last year’s gold medalists, the United States. Projected first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin and his Swedish cohorts battled a pesky Slovakia side in their quarter-final game, squeaking out a 3-2 victory. The United States faced off against their long time foe in Russia on Tuesday night, coming out on top with a 4-2 victory on the back of a two-goal game from Kieffer Bellows.
Casey Mittelstadt and Brady Tkachuk continue to be the driving force for the US, as Mittelstadt leads the tournament in scoring, while Tkachuck is fifth. Sweden is not without their own high-powered weapons at forward, as both Lias Andersson and Elias Pettersson are near the top of the scoring charts as well, in addition to the aforementioned Dahlin.
Joseph Woll got the start once again after a standout performance against the Russians, while opposite him would be Filip Gustavsson for the Swedes.
It was a closely contested opening half to the first period, neither side really gaining the advantage with high-danger chances. The best came from a cycle started behind the net by Ryan Poehling, which ended with Adam Fox firing one in on Gustavsson. Pettersson had a glorious chance to make a 1-0 game in close for Sweden, but instead fired the into the netting.
With Woll’s stick sitting away from his crease, Andrew Peeke pushed it over to his netminder, taking a penalty in the process for doing so. On the ensuing power play, the Swedish puck movement had the American penalty-killers scrambling, and Woll had to come across and steal a sure goal from Alex Nylander.
Brady Tkachuk, who has been a thorn in the side of every team he’s played this year, drew a penalty sending the US to the power play. Much like the Swedes earlier, the United States distributed the puck with ease, forcing their opponents all over, but they couldn’t solve Gustavsson. A late solo sojourn by Mittelstadt nearly got the Americans on the board with time dying down, but the two teams would head into the intermission tied, with the US on top in shots.
After a tightly contested opening period, the Swedes went back to the power play less than three minutes in with Max Jones taking a seat for hooking. Unlike their first man advantage, the Swedish attack failed to find any dents in the American defence, instead surrendering a few short-handed chances against, while their best scoring chances went wide off the net.
The Americans got the best chance of the period just past the halfway point when Logan Brown fired a harmless shot that Gustavsson kicked out off his pads. Riley Tufte nearly potted the errant rebound, but the Swedish netminder denied that chance as well. A thrilling rush by Rasmus Dahlin turned into chaos in front of Woll, and then into an odd-man rush in their favour before the play came to an end with a frozen puck in Sweden’s defensive zone.
A Dylan Samberg delayed penalty nearly gifted a goal to the Swedes shortly thereafter as Marcus Davidsson broke in on a breakaway, but lost the handle on the puck, allowing Woll to make the pad save.
The formidable Swedish attack finally solved Woll on the ensuing power play, with Elias Pettersson uncorking a wrist shot that found the top corner of the net.
Elias Pettersson with another filthy snipe. 1-0 Sweden pic.twitter.com/V4G41ouVar — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 4, 2018
The United States immediately put their foot down after the goal, with Kieffer Bellows leading the charge once more. His shot kicked off of Gustavsson’s pads just out of the reach of Kailer Yamamoto. Jones and Mittelstadt led the next wave of attack, with Jones throwing a massive hit on Erik Brannstrom then nearly finishing off a perfect pass in the goal mouth.
Brannstrom then took a penalty in the final 90 seconds of the period as Yamamoto flew by him into the offensive zone, giving the US one more chance to tie the game. Mittelstadt led a 3-on-0 charge, nearly putting it five hole for the goal, but Bellows was whistled for goaltender interference on the same play, cancelling out the US advantage.
Not the ideal result for a 3-on-0…. pic.twitter.com/iiv66Yuuva — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 4, 2018
An abbreviated power play for Sweden started the final period, and was handled with relative ease by the United States, sending the play back to even strength with 18 minutes left to play. Josh Norris nearly tied the game on a great play behind the net, the Sharks prospect circled the net, nearly finding the open part of the goal.
Brannstrom once again found himself in the box in the third, this time for interfering with Fox as he attempted to chase down a dump-in. The American man advantage failed to convert, giving Sweden all the momentum it needed.
The Swedes charged down right after, and a fine bit of interplay between Frederik Karlstrom and Lias Andersson led to the latter finishing the play off on a tap-in for a two-goal Sweden lead.
Lias Andersson scores his sixth goal of the WJC. Hell of a play. pic.twitter.com/tUgJD02Ikl — Adam Herman (@AdamZHerman) January 4, 2018
Another American power play couldn’t stop the bleeding either, as Oskar Steen broke in on the penalty kill, and wired home the third Swedish goal on a beautiful wrist shot.
Then it was Axel Jonsson-Fjallby who added to the growing rout between the two sides with another short-handed marker: a top shelf laser of a shot that chased Woll from the game.
Sweden gets its first of 2 shorthanded goals in 38 seconds pic.twitter.com/2zIVKxxq1m — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 4, 2018
To their credit, the Americans battled back in the following minutes, and thanks to another Swedish penalty finally broke through on the power play. Bellows would again be the man to find the back of the net with a gorgeous shot from the slot that beat Gustavsson high.
Kieffer Bellows gets USA on the board with a nice goal pic.twitter.com/edbm5TcoTE — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 4, 2018
With less than four on the clock, Oettinger made his way to the bench in favour of the extra attacker. It worked almost immediately with Brady Tkachuk cashing in on another juicy rebound shot, and giving the Americans a faint glimmer of hope in the final three minutes.
USA gets another from Brady Tkachuk and it’s a 4-2 game pic.twitter.com/mnprXM1ntf — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 4, 2018
Then Sweden gave the Americans a helping hand with penalty to Tim Soderlund getting the gate for holding Max Jones, sending the United States to a 6-on-4 power play. They had few chances as the Swedes simply iced the puck with no consequence, going to to win the first semifinal by a 4-2 score.
Sweden moves on to the Gold Medal Game, where they are guaranteed to snap a three-year medal drought. The USA will have to play for bronze, and will await the loser of the night’s second semifinal to see who they play on Friday afternoon.
After the game Eyes on the Prize caught up with Ryan Poehling to get his thoughts on tomorrow’s Bronze Medal Game, and the experience this tournament gave him.
EOTP: Obviously a tough game tonight. How did you as a team prepare for the depth and skill of a team like Sweden?
Poehling: I mean, I thought we had a good game plan coming into this game, and we just didn’t execute it. That was the biggest part of it. We tried playing their style of hockey and they ended up doing better at that than us. I think at the end of the day we just didn’t execute what we wanted to do, and we kind of played into their hands.
After a game like this, how do you prepare for the Bronze Medal Game tomorrow against either the Czechs or Canada?
Yeah, it’s hard. Third place isn’t something you want, but at the end of the day this is what we’re in and we’re doing it for our country, so... You don’t get anything for fourth, so that bronze medal is what we’re playing for now.
Is there a lot of experience or lessons you can take back to St. Cloud State with you after this?
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. It’s a very humbling experience being here. You see so much skill here. That’s the biggest difference between here and college: you see so much high-end skill here at World Juniors. I’m excited to get back to the team and get the support from the team, but for right now I just don’t know.
How can the team rebound going into next year’s tournament. Is there a unifying message?
Yeah, it takes a team to win this, and we had a great team this year and you gotta get some lucky bounces here and there. You gotta take a team of 20 guys who are willing to buy into what really matters, and it’s team success that matters the most. I think that’s where things went wrong a bit today; we were all playing for each other, but we didn’t execute and Sweden did a better job at doing that than we did.
If the USA is to repeat as gold medallists at the World Junior Hockey Championship, the team will need to get past perhaps the most talented roster entered into the tournament.
Both Sweden and the United States are fairly evenly matched, with similar offensive and defensive numbers to this stage.
Sweden has received slightly better goaltending, with Filip Gustavsson outperforming Joseph Woll. The Swedish netminder has also benefitted from a stronger defensive effort in front of him, with the country allowing an average of just 1.71 goals through five games.
There are star talents on both squads, with Casey Mittelstadt, Brady Tkachuk, and Kieffer Bellows set to duke it out with Elias Pettersson, Lias Andersson, and Alex Nylander for the duration of the contest. There are good players on the back end as well, with the likes of Dylan Samberg and an explosive Adam Fox up against a strong Swedish defence led by 17-year-old phenom Rasmus Dahlin.
The matchup features two teams with few weaknesses, and should be one of the most entertaining games of the 2018 tournament.
How to watch
Puck drop: 4:00 PM EST / 1:00 PM PST
In Canada: TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5 (English) RDS (French)
In the United States: NHL Network
Live stream: TSNGO
Team USA projected lineup
USA Forwards Left Wing Centre Right Wing Left Wing Centre Right Wing #23 Kieffer Bellows #4 Ryan Poehling #17 Kailer Yamamoto #7 Brady Tkachuk #11 Casey Mittelstadt #13 Joey Anderson #49 Max Jones #9 Josh Norris #21 Patrick Harper #27 Riley Tufte #34 Trent Frederic
USA Defencemen Left Defence Right Defence Left Defence Right Defence #12 Dylan Samberg #8 Adam Fox #5 Ryan Lindgren #6 Quinn Hughes #24 Mikey Anderson #15 Scott Perunovich #20 Andrew Peeke
USA Goaltenders Goaltenders Goaltenders #1 Joseph Woll #30 Jake Oettinger
Team Sweden projected lineup
SWE Forwards Left Wing Centre Right Wing Left Wing Centre Right Wing #19 Alexander Nylander #16 Linus Lindström #14 Elias Pettersson #17 Frederik Karlström #24 Lias Andersson #21 Jesper Boqvist #29 Oscar Steen #20 Isac Lundeström #9 Tim Söderlund #22 Axel Jonsson-Fjällby #10 Marcus Davidsson #28 Fabian Zetterlund #12 Glenn Gustafsson
SWE Defencemen Left Defence Right Defence Left Defence Right Defence #8 Rasmus Dahlin #26 Erik Brännström #27 Jacob Moverare #7 Timothy Liljegren #23 Jesper Sellgren #5 Gustav Lindström #6 Linus Högberg
