Dufour Wins Gold at 2022 World Juniors

DAY 12: DUFOUR WINS GOLD, FINNISH PROSPECTS TAKE HOME SILVER
William Dufour and Team Canada won the gold medal at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship on Saturday night, skating to a 3-2 OT win over Team Finland.
Dufour, the Islanders' 2020 fifth-round pick (152nd overall), scored in the gold medal game, putting Canada up 2-0.

The gold medal capped off a dream season for Dufour, who was named the QMJHL MVP, won a Memorial Cup and WJC gold. Dufour recorded seven points (3G, 4A) in seven games at the World Juniors.
Across the ice, Aatu Räty, Matias Rajaniemi and Eetu Liukas took home silver medals. Räty, the Islanders' 2021 second rounder (52nd overall), had 10 points (3G, 7A) in seven games, tied for fourth in tournament scoring. Rajaniemi, the team's 2020 sixth-round pick (183rd overall) had one assist in six games, while Liukas, the 2021 fifth-round pick (157th overall) had two helpers.

DAY 11: CANADA, FINLAND ADVANCE TO GOLD MEDAL GAME
Canada and Finland will face off for the gold medal at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship after both teams advanced through the semifinals on Friday. The two teams will face off at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Canada topped Czechia 5-2 on Friday, while Finland narrowly beat Sweden 1-0. William Dufour, the Islanders' 2020 fifth-round pick (152nd overall) had a secondary assist in Canada's win, while Aatu Räty, the Isles' 2021 second-rounder (52nd overall) had the primary assist on Finland's game winner.

Canada and Finland have won six of the last nine World Junior tournaments, but the two powerhouses have not faced each other in a World Junior final ever.

DAY 9: CANADA, FINLAND ADVANCE TO SEMIS
Both Canada and Finland won their quarterfinal matchups on Wednesday, advancing to the semifinals at the 2022 World Juniors.
Canada scored a 6-3 win over Switzerland, while Finland downed Germany 5-2.
As a result, Canada will play Czechia, who upset Team USA with a 4-2 win, on Friday, while Finland will take on Sweden, who edged out Latvia 2-1. Canada plays at 4 p.m. eastern, while Finland plays at 8 p.m. eastern.
None of the Islanders prospects recorded a point or a shot on goal in either of the quarterfinal wins.
DAY 7: DUFOUR SCORES VS FINLAND
William Dufour faced off against Aatu Räty, Eetu Liukas and Matias Rajaniemi on Monday night, as Canada downed Finland 6-3 in a showdown between the top two teams in Group A.
Dufour hit the scoresheet, icing the game with an empty-netter late in the third period. The goal was Dufour's second tally and fifth point of the tournament.

Canada took command of the game early, jumping out to a 3-0 lead and led 5-1 by the end of the second period. Räty and Liukas each had an assist in the contest, but it was not enough for the Finns to mount a comeback. Räty, the Islanders' 2021 second-round pick (52nd overall), has nine points (3G, 6A) in four games, while Liukas, the Isles' 2021 fifth-round pick (157th overall), notched his first point of the tournament.
With the win, Canada goes 4-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) in preliminary round action, finishing first in Group A and securing a quarterfinal matchup with Switzerland. Finland finished second in Group A with a 2-1-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record.
DAY 6: RATY HAS THREE POINTS VS SLOVAKIA
Aatu Räty had three points (1G, 2A) as Finland beat Slovakia 9-3 on Sunday.
Räty scored Finland's fifth goal and assisted on the final two tallies for the Finns. The Islanders' 2021 second-round pick (52nd overall) also had five shots in 18:07 TOI.

Räty now has eight points (3G, 5A) in three games at the 2022 World Juniors. Räty leads Finland in scoring and is second overall in the tournament in points.
Matias Rajaniemi also recorded an assist in Finland's win, picking up the secondary helper to make the game 7-2 in the third period. Rajaniemi, the Islanders' 2020 sixth-round pick (183rd overall), played 10:29 in the win, in addition to recording his first point of the tournament.
Eetu Liukas, the Isles' 2021 fifth-rounder (157th overall), skated 10:19 and recorded three shots on net.
DAY 5: CANADA WINS 5-1 VS CZECHIA
Canada scored a 5-1 win over Czechia on Saturday to remain undefeated (3-0-0-0, W-OTW-OTL-L) at the 2022 World Juniors.
Islanders prospect William Dufour did not record a point in the win, but recorded three shots on goal in 11:54 TOI. Dufour, the Islanders' 2020 fifth-round pick (152nd overall) has four points (1G, 3A) in three games so far in the World Juniors.
Canada wraps up round-robin play against Finland on Monday at 6 p.m. eastern.

DAY 3: RATY SCORES, DUFOUR DISHES TWO ASSISTS
Aatu Räty scored his second goal of the 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship on Thursday night, as Finland beat Czechia 4-3 in a shootout.
Räty put Finland ahead 3-2 in the third period before Czechia sent the game to overtime. The Islanders' 2021 second-round pick was denied on his shootout attempt, now has five points (2G, 3A) in two games to start the World Juniors. Räty played 24:12 in the win with five shots on goal.

Eetu Liukas and Matias Rajaniemi both made their 2022 World Junior debuts. Liukas played 9:14 with one shot, while Rajaniemi skated 1:57.
William Dufour recorded two assists in Canada's dominating 11-1 win over Slovakia on Thursday.
Dufour dished helpers on Canada's 10th and 11th goals, helping ice a game that was already out of reach in the third. Mason McTavish headlined the win with a six-point game (4G, 2A).
The Islanders' 2020 fifth-round pick (152nd overall) is up to four points (1G, 3A) through two games.
Canada is 2-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) while Finland is 1-1-0-0.

DAY 2: DUFOUR HAS GOAL AND ASSIST IN WIN OVER LATVIA
William Dufour scored a goal and added an assist in Canada's 5-2 win over Latvia in Canada's tournament opener on Wednesday.
The Islanders 2020 fifth-round draft pick (152nd overall) dished an assist on Ridly Greig's goal to make it 4-1 towards the end of the second period and scored Canada's final goal of the game, effectively icing the contest in the third period.

Dufour's two points tied Connor Bedard (1G, 1A), Mason McTavish (2A) and Greig (1G, 1A) for the team high and his six shots trailed only Bedard.
Wednesday marked the first-ever World Junior contest for Dufour, who enters the tournament fresh off a Memorial Cup, a Memorial Cup MVP and being named the QMJHL MVP this past season.
DAY 1: RATY RECORDS FOUR POINTS, FINLAND WINS 6-1
Aatu Räty started the 2022 World Juniors off with a bang, recording four points (1G, 3A) in Finland's 6-1 win over Latvia in each team's tournament opener.
Räty, the Islanders 2021 second-round pick, tied linemate Joakim Kemell (2G, 2A) for the team-high point total. Räty dished the primary helper on Kemell's first goal of the game in the first period. The Islanders prospect also had a primary helper on linemate Roni Hirvonen's second period goal to make it 4-0 Finland.

Räty got on the board himself in the third period, beating Bruno Bruveris short side to put the Finns up 5-1 and added a secondary assist to round out his four-point game.
Räty and his linemates combined for 11 points in the tournament opener, setting the tone for a dominating Finland win. The Finns take on Czechia on Thursday at 2 p.m. on NHL Network.