10 things learned at World Junior Championship

BUFFALO --The 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship provided an outdoor hockey game amid heavy snowflakes, a look at the next NHL prodigy on defense, and a thrilling finish.
In the end, Canada celebrated its 17th championship after a 3-1 win against Sweden in the gold medal game at KeyBank Center on Friday.

The 2018 WJC most valuable player was United States center Casey Mittelstadt (Buffalo Sabres).
The WJC All-Star Team included goaltender Filip Gustavsson of Sweden, defensemen Rasmus Dahlin of Sweden and Cale Makar of Canada, and forwards Mittelstadt, Filip Zadina of the Czech Republic and Kieffer Bellows of the United States.
Here are 10 other things learned at the tournament:

Draft Dahlin

Sweden defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, 17, a candidate to be chosen with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft in Dallas on June 22, didn't disappoint as a mainstay on the blue line in his second WJC. Dahlin had six assists and led Sweden with 25 shots on goal and a plus-7 rating, averaging more than 23 minutes each game.
He played a personal-high 28:07 in a 4-3 shootout win against Russia in the final preliminary-round game on New Year's Eve. Dahlin partnered with offensive-defenseman Erik Brannstrom (Vegas Golden Knights) in every game of the tournament.
"He was a really good player for us," Sweden coach Tomas Monten said. "He's still young, he carried a lot of minutes and he did everything we expected and more. I don't think I'm going to see him again (at the 2019 WJC), so the [NHL team] who picks first, pick him."

U.S. wins third straight medal

The United States won a WJC medal for the third straight year for the first time following a 9-3 win against the Czech Republic in the bronze medal game at KeyBank Center on Friday. The Americans won gold in 2017 and bronze in 2016.
Froward Trent Frederic (Boston Bruins) scored four goals, and forward Kieffer Bellows (New York Islanders) scored twice in the victory. Frederic became the first American to score a hat trick in a WJC game since center Auston Matthews, now of the Toronto Maple Leafs, in a 7-0 win against the Czech Republic in the 2016 quarterfinals on Jan. 2, 2016. Bellows set a U.S. record at a single WJC with nine goals.

Canadian Pride

A tournament-leading 15 different players scored for Canada on the way to its gold medal-winning performance.
Forward Drake Batherson (Ottawa Senators) led Canada with seven goals, and forward Jordan Kyrou led with 10 points (three goals, seven assists). Defenseman Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche) led all Canada players at his position with eight points (three goals, five assists).

The agony of defeat

Sweden captain Lias Andersson (New York Rangers) tossed his silver medal into the stands from the medal line following a 3-1 loss against Canada in the gold medal game, in an obvious moment of frustration and disappointment.
"There was one guy in the stands who wanted it more than me so I decided to give it to him and I think he deserved it," Andersson said. "I have a silver medal from the 2016 World Under-18 Championship and I haven't checked it in two years since I lost last time, so I won't regret it."
Andersson, 19, who tossed the medal to a Canadian fan, eventually did get the medal back. He was asked if he was glad he had the medal returned.
"No," he said. "I'm just going to have it home in some box or whatever."

Success for Sabres prospects

United States center Casey Mittelstadt and Sweden right wing Alexander Nylander each provided Sabres fans a glimpse of what would appear to be a promising future.
Mittelstadt, selected No. 8 in the 2017 NHL Draft, led the tournament with 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in seven games for the bronze medalist.
Nylander, chosen No. 8 in the 2016 draft, had seven points (one goal, six assists) and led all Sweden forwards with 23 shots in a silver medal-winning performance.

Boosting NHL Draft stock

United States forward Brady Tkachuk, Czech Republic forward Filip Zadina, Sweden center Isac Lundestrom, and Russia forward Andrei Svechnikov lived up to all the hype as underage standouts representing their countries.
All four forwards, candidates to be chosen in the first round of the 2018 draft, are A rated skaters on NHL Central Scouting's November players to watch list.
Tkachuk finished third on the United States with nine points (three goals, six assists) in seven games; Zadina led all 2018 NHL Draft-eligible players with seven goals and 37 shots; Lundestrom scored twice in a 3-2 win against Slovakia in the quarterfinal round; and Svechnikov had five assists in five games.

Shorthanded strikes

Sweden fell two seconds short of tying its own record for scoring the fastest two shorthanded goals in the history of the World Juniors.
Forwards Oskar Steen (Boston Bruins) and Axel Jonsson Fjallby (Washington Capitals) each scored a shorthanded goal in a span of 38 seconds in the third period in a 4-2 win against the United States in the semifinal round on Thursday.

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Russia streak ends

Russia returned home without a medal for the first time in eight years, after a 4-2 loss against the United States in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday.
During its medal streak, Russia won one gold (2011), three silver (2012, 2015, 2016) and three bronze (2013, 2014, 2017). It is also the second time in the past 14 WJC events that Russia did not medal.

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The great outdoors

The United States defeated Canada 4-3 in a shootout outdoors during a preliminary-round match at New Era Field, the home to the Buffalo Bills, amid a heavy snowfall before an attendance record for a WJC game with 44,592 fans.
The previous attendance record of 20,380 was set during the 2009 gold medal game between Canada and Sweden on Jan. 5, 2009, in Ottawa.

Finland again returns home empty

Finland, which won a gold medal at the 2014 WJC and 2016 WJC, finished ninth last year and sixth this year.
A 4-3 loss against the Czech Republic in the quarterfinal round closed a disappointing finish for a country that had five first-round NHL Draft picks on defense with Miro Heiskanen (Dallas Stars), Juuso Valimaki (Calgary Flames), Olli Juolevi (Vancouver Canucks), Urho Vaakanainen (Boston Bruins) and Henri Jokiharju (Chicago Blackhawks). Finland allowed 16 goals in five games (3.13 goals-against average).