Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of overtime as Finland pulled off a stunning four to three victory over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.
"Got to give credit to the United States," stated Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with exceptional individuals and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that revenge from last year, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."
In the semi-finals on Sunday, Finland will face Sweden, while the Canadians will meet the Czech Republic. Sweden defeated the Latvian side six to three, Team Canada produced a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one rout over the Slovakian team, and Czechia topped the Swiss by a six to two score.
The Michigan State Spartan Lee Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds remaining in regulation and the University of Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.
Lee Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a fifty-five-second span in the third to give their team a two to one advantage. He leveled the score at 2 with 7:17 left, then assisted on Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds remaining. J. Saarelainen also assisted on Tuuva’s goal.
The Boston University blueliner Cole Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the Americans after being struck in the head against Switzerland and missing the next two contests.
"I thought we executed well for a lot of the game," Hutson said. "But the small details that they got, many of their Grade-A opportunities resulted from our errors."
His BU teammate C. Eiserman gave the United States a two to one edge on a power play with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He took a feed from Hutson and beat the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right side.
C. Hutson scored on a rush thirty-five seconds into the second period. Heikki Ruohonen tied it at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a snap shot from the left wing.
The Americans fell in their last two games – falling six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday night in the final preliminary game – after starting with their first three.
"It was an honor to coach this group," said the American bench boss. "Our guys played a great game today and fell just a bit short. Give the Finns. It's an empty feeling at the moment, but our guys left everything on the ice."
In the second match in Minneapolis, the Canadians overwhelmed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.
Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the second. Jack Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.
"This demonstrates how powerful we are," B. Martin said. "Taking a 5-0 lead, it kind of kills their confidence."
In the first quarter-final, Anton Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to aid the Swedes remain undefeated in their five outings.
Meanwhile, in Minneapolis T. Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and J. Fibigr provided the goals for the Czech team.
The German team triumphed in the relegation game, defeating the Danes eight to four. M. Schams had two goals to help his nation retain its place for the following season in the top division. The Danish side was relegated to the second tier.
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