MONTREAL, CANADA – JANUARY 2: Russia’s Ivan Barbashyov #22 celebrates after scoring Team Russia’s first goal of the game during quarterfinal round action at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/HHOF-IIHF Images)
With the start of the play-off bracket at the 2015 IIHF World Juniors every game is a must win. Five games were on deck for day 7 of World Juniors, one relegation game and four play off games. The USA took on Russia and Sweden and defending champions Finland. Powerhouse Canada and Denmark battled while Slovakia and The Czech Republic went toe to toe.
The United States 2, Russia 3
This game was lost almost purely due to the sloppy and undisciplined pay by the U.S. The U.S. racked up a total of 16 PIM in this game and Russia capitalized on the man advantage. While Russia themselves tailed 12 PIM, but the U.S. couldn’t capitalize the same way
Two early goals from Ivan Barbashyor and Alexander Sharov gave the Russians a 2-0 lead. In the second period the U.S. cut the lead in half on a power play goal by Anthony DeAngelo.
Anthony DeAngelo's slap shot finds the back of the net to cut Russia's lead to one #TSN #BigPlay @CanadianTire - http://t.co/QrBp1pX3dO
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) January 2, 2015
But, Sergei Tolchinski netted himself a power play goal giving Russia a 3-1 lead. A late goal by Zach Werenski made it 3-2 but with only a minute left in the game the U.S. couldn’t tie it up.
The United States was favored to go far in the tournament and face the other highly favored Canada in the finals. In the press scrum after the game the U.S. players talked about how hard the loss was for the team.
“It’s definitely disappointing… we didn’t capitalize on our power play or the 5-on-3 in the third period. That was the difference there.”
“It’s tough to swallow,” said DeAngelo. Captain Jack Eichel also voiced his disappointment “It’s definitely disappointing… we didn’t capitalize on our power play or the 5-on-3 in the third period. That was the difference there.” Eichel said.
Finland 3, Sweden 6
In a matchup of last years gold medal game saw the Fins get out to an early 1-0 lead in the second, after a scoreless first period, on a Juuso Ikonen goal. Yet Sweden being the high scoring team this tournament came back to net three straight goals. Power play goals came from Gustav Forsling, Lucas Wallmark. Adam Brodecki added an even strength goal as the Swedes lead 3-1 midway through the second. Finland came back to tie the game at 3-3 on goals by Mikko Rantanen and Kasperi Kapanen.
The third period was were Sweden took over and dominated. A power play goal by Adrian Kempe, which would eventually be the game winner made it 4-3. Two late period goals by Oskar Lindblom and an empty netter by Hallmark gave the Swedes a 6-3 win against Finland. Team Sweden is now 5-0 in the tournament. Finland went 0-25 on the power play this tournament and was costly in their game against Sweden where they went 0-6.
Czech Republic 0, Slovakia 3
In the least talked about game of the day the Czech Republic took on Slovakia. A unassisted Michal Kabac goal gave Slovakia a 1-0 lead with two minutes left in the first. An uneventful second period led to the third with Slovakia still leading. In the third The Czechs little chances of scoring. in the game the Czechs were outshot 9 to 8 and 0-5 on the power play.
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Late in the third period Slovakia added two more goals from Peter Cehlarik and Martin Reway. Through out the game The Czech Republic wasn’t the same team that had beaten Russia 4-1 in the preliminary round and for that they are going home empty handed.
Canada Denmark
In the last game of the day Canada took on Denmark who managed to win only one game in the preliminary round but still managed to make it into the tournament round. However the same scoring problem that plagued the Danes throughout round robin play hurt them again as Canada won (score).
Goals from Curtis Lazar and Samson Reinhart gave the Canadians a 2-0 lead after one period. In the second Lawson Crouse added a goal to make it 3-0 Canada. Connor McDavid and Lazar scored to give Canada a 5-0 lead. In the third goals from Nick Paul, Brayden Point and Nick Ritchie made it 8-0. That was all the Canadians needed as they knock Denmark out of the tournament. Goalie Zach Fucale registered the shut out.
Next games
Main tournament play takes a day off except for the relegation game at 7pm between Germany and Switzerland. Tournament games pick back up on the 4th.
4pm Sweden vs Russia
8 pm Slovakia vs Canada
Catch Video and highlights from the previous weeks: