The IIHF semifinal round completed this morning. And the results were a bit surprising.
The United States defeated Canada handily, scoring 5 goals on Malcolm Subban. From the IIHF game recap:
The Americans are full credit for the victory. They were faster, had better goaltending, and were the more confident team. Canada, on the other hand, looked surprisingly nervous, particularly in the first when the game was up for grabs.
This means that the highest Canada can finish is 3rd. USA will play for gold.
Meanwhile, Sweden defeated Russia (with four Lightning prospects) 3-2 in a shootout. Again, from the IIHF game recap:
The Russians initially couldn’t get it together after rallying to defeat Switzerland 4-3 in a quarter-final shootout the day before. Here, it took close to 15 minutes for them to register their first shot on goal.
Nikita Kucherov had 1 assist and was +1, Artem Sergeev and Nikita Nesterov had no points and even plus-minus. Andrei Vasilevski officially had 38 saves on 41 shots (0.927), but that includes the shootout. He stopped 38/40 shots in regulation + overtime for a 0.950 and a 1.71 GAA.
Russia will meet Canada in the bronze medal game at 3pm Saturday (4am ET). USA will meet Sweden in the gold medal game at 7pm Saturday (8am ET). Switzerland (Tanner Richard) will meet Czech Republic 7pm Friday (8am ET). For more info, check the IIHF WJC homepage.
