WJC roundup: Knight, United States shut out Sweden

Thursday was the seventh day of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Day 7 games

United States 4, Sweden 0:
Spencer Knight
(Florida Panthers) made 27 saves and the United States (3-0-0-1, nine points) finished first in Group B with its win Thursday.
The United States will play Slovakia in the quarterfinals on Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Sweden (2-0-1-1, seven points) will play Finland (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
It was Knight's second straight shutout following a 7-0 win against the Czech Republic on Tuesday, and the United States' third in a row. It hasn't allowed a goal in a span of 180:21, since Russia's
Yegor Chinakhov
(Columbus Blue Jackets) scored an empty-net goal with 21 seconds remaining in the third period of a tournament-opening 5-3 loss Dec. 25.
Knight is the first U.S. goalie with back to back shutouts at the World Juniors.
"He's always been really mentally tough," U.S. defenseman
Cameron York
(Philadelphia Flyers) said. "Whenever he comes off a tough game, he always seems to rebound. If we want to be a really successful team here, we need him to be really good for us every night. Two shutouts in a row should boost his confidence and get him ready for the quarterfinals."
Trevor Zegras
(Anaheim Ducks) had a goal and two assists,
Drew Helleson
(Colorado Avalanche) and
Alex Turcotte
(Los Angeles Kings) each had a goal and an assist, and
Ryan Johnson
(Buffalo Sabres) also scored for the United States.
Zegras leads the World Juniors with 13 points, and his six goals are tied for first with Canada forward
Dylan Cozens
(Buffalo Sabres).
Jesper Wallstedt (2021 draft eligible) made 18 saves after replacing
Hugo Alnefelt
(Tampa Bay Lightning) 3:55 into the second period. Alnefelt allowed four goals on 20 shots. Defenseman
Victor Soderstrom
(Arizona Coyotes) missed on a penalty shot at 3:34 of the second period.
The loss was Sweden's second straight after its 54-game preliminary-round winning streak ended in a 4-3 overtime loss to Russia on Wednesday. Prior to Wednesday, Sweden's last loss in the preliminary round was against the United States on Dec. 31, 2006.
Helleson gave the United States a 1-0 lead 1:09 into the game when his shot from along the goal line got past Alnefelt. Zegras made it 2-0 at 3:58 of the first when his shot from the left side went over Alnefelt's shoulder.
"They got two pretty easy
(Edmonton Oilers) and Peyton Krebs (Vegas Golden Knights) scored for Canada.
Devon Levi
(Florida Panthers) made 18 saves.
"Obviously they're a real strong opponent over there," Cozens said of Finland. "I think we came out and played our best game so far. We reloaded hard on pucks and they had a tough time getting out of their zone and that was all because of our track and our reloads, so I think that showed our identity is just speed. We created lots of turnovers and went the other way real quick."
Brad Lambert (2022 draft eligible) scored, and Kari Piiroinen (2021 draft eligible) made 36 saves for Finland (3-0-0-1, nine points).
Cozens put Canada ahead 1-0 at 3:49 of the first period when he forced a turnover, started a 3-on-1, and beat Piiroinen to the short side.
Canada made it 2-0 at 6:54 of the second period when a shot by
Jakob Pelletier
(Calgary Flames) from the high slot went off Holloway in front of the net. Krebs made it 3-0 at 12:58 scoring from in front.
"Start of the game we weren't ready at all," Finland coach Antti Pennanen said. "Team Canada was so good. They played at a good speed and it was high-demanding game for us. They won all the battles and the loose pucks. We tried to improve those things, and I think we did, but not enough."
Lambert scored a power-play goal to make it 3-1 at 5:05 of the third period. Cozens scored an empty-net goal with 1:17 remaining for the 4-1 final.
Canada forward
Alex Newhook
(Colorado Avalanche) left the game because of an undisclosed injury after playing one shift in the second period. Coach Andre Tourigny said he expected to have an update on Newhook's condition Friday.
Finland defenseman
Ville Heinola
(Winnipeg Jets) left during the third period after blocking a shot with his hand. Pennanen said he thought the injury was minor.
Czech Republic 7, Austria 0:Nick Malik (2021 draft eligible) made 15 saves to help the Czech Republic earn a spot in the quarterfinals.
Martin Lang (2021 draft eligible) scored two goals and an assist, Simon Kubicek (2021 draft eligible) and
Pavel Novak
(Minnesota Wild) each scored a goal and an assist, and Filip Prikryl (2021 draft eligible), David Jiricek (2022 draft eligible) and
Jan Mysak
(Montreal Canadiens) each scored a goal.
Czech Republic (2-0-0-2, six points) finished fourth in Group B, and will play Canada in the quarterfinals Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
Sebastian Wraneschitz (2021 draft eligible) made 54 saves for Austria (0-0-0-4, zero points). He faced 194 shots in three games, including at least 60 in each.
Austria, which was playing in the WJC for the first time since 2010, was outscored 29-1 in its four games.
Forward Marco Rossi, selected by the Wild with the No. 9 pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, did not have a point in four games.
"It was really tough for us because we had no experience on that level and everything was new for us," Rossi said. "I think next year the group is going to be much better. We had a really young group, and they'll have more experience next year and know exactly what's going to hit them."
Kubicek, a defenseman who plays for Seattle in the Western Hockey League, made it 1-0 at 6:21 of the second period when his low shot bounced over Wranechitz's glove.
"We've been better than Austria in the offensive zone so we knew we needed to just keep going," Kubicek said. "We knew that if we score the first goal, it's going to be better and we did it in the second period. After it was better and better."
Lang scored from the left side to make it 2-0 at 12:05, and his one-timer from just inside the blue line made it 3-0 at 18:11. Prikryl gave the Czech Republic a 4-0 lead with a shot from in front with 33 seconds remaining in the period.
Novak scored through a screen from the left side at 1:39 of the third period to make it 5-0, Jiricek scored at 16:45 for a 6-0 lead and Mysak, the Czech Republic captain, scored with 26 seconds remaining to make it 7-0.