Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as Finland pulled off a stunning 4-3 win over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday night in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.
"Got to give credit to the US," stated Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, loaded with exceptional players and a superbly organized team. But I said we were seeking that revenge from the previous final, and I believe we kind of earned it this evening."
In the semifinal matches Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while Canada will meet the Czech Republic. The Swedes defeated the Latvian side 6-3, Team Canada had a five-goal first period in a seven to one romp over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs overcame the Swiss by a six to two score.
The Michigan State Spartan Lee Ryker tied it for the United States with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in regulation and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.
Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second span in the third to hand Finland a 2-1 advantage. Tuuva tied it at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then set up his teammate's game-leading goal with 6:22 remaining. Saarelainen also assisted on Tuuva’s goal.
The Boston University blueliner Cole Hutson had a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the head against Switzerland and missing the next two contests.
"In my opinion we made good plays for a lot of the game," the defenseman said. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their high-quality opportunities resulted from our errors."
His BU teammate Cole Eiserman gave the United States a 2-1 edge on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the middle frame. He took a feed from Hutson and beat the Finnish goaltender with a one-timer from the right circle.
Hutson tallied on a rush 35 seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left wing.
The U.S. squad lost their final two games – losing six to three to Sweden on Wednesday night in the group finale – after starting with their initial three matches.
"It was an privilege to lead this group," stated the team's coach. "They played a terrific game tonight and fell just a bit short. All credit to Finland. It's an hollow feeling at the moment, but our guys left everything on the ice."
In the late game in the host city, the Canadians routed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.
Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and Porter Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the following period. J. Ivankovic made 21 saves.
"Just goes to show how powerful we can be," Martin said. "Taking a 5-0 advantage, it kind of saps their morale."
In the opening playoff game, A. Frondell scored twice for Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two helpers to help the Swedes remain perfect in five games.
Meanwhile, in Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, A. Jiricek, P. Sikora, Jiri Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czechs.
The German team triumphed in the consolation match, defeating the Danes 8-4. M. Schams scored twice to ensure Germany retain its spot next year in the main event. The Danish side was relegated to the second tier.
A seasoned casino analyst with over a decade of experience in online gambling, specializing in slot machine reviews and player strategy.
