WJC roundup: United States defeats Finland, advances to championship game

Monday was the 11th day of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Semifinals results

United States 4, Finland 3:
Arthur Kaliyev (Los Angeles Kings) scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:16 remaining in the third period and the United States advanced to the championship game of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
The United States will play Canada on Tuesday (9:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN) in its seventh championship game since the current tournament format was adopted in 1996. It is 4-2 overall and 3-1 against Canada in title games, including a 5-4 shootout win at the 2017 WJC.
"It's going to be a great game," United States center John Farinacci (Arizona Coyotes) said. "It's something you dream about and USA and Canada in a gold medal game. It's always going to be a fun game and we got to play a full 60 minutes if we want to get that gold medal."
Finland will play Russia in the third-place game on Tuesday (5:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
"I think we played an excellent game today," Finland coach Antti Pennanen said. "At the end of the second period we had a bad moment but overall, we played a very good game, one of the best in this tournament and I'm so proud of my players."
Alex Turcotte (Kings) had a goal and an assist, Farinacci and Matthew Boldy (Minnesota Wild) scored, and Spencer Knight (Florida Panthers) made 33 saves for the United States.
Kasper Simontaival (Kings) scored two goals, Roni Hirvonen (Toronto Maple Leafs) scored, and Kasper Puutio (Panthers) and Ville Heinola (Winnipeg Jets) each had two assists for Finland. Kari Piiroinen (2021 NHL Draft eligible) made 22 saves.
Kaliyev took a pass from Turcotte between the two face-off circles and beat Piiroinen over the glove and just under the crossbar to give the United States a 4-3 lead.
"I'm just trying to get open there in the high slot and [Turcotte] made a great play to find me in the slot, and I shot it from there," Kaliyev said.
Finland scored twice in the third period. Simontaival scored his fourth goal of the tournament on a shot from the slot to pull Finland within 3-2 at 11:38. Hirvonen scored a power-play goal to tie it 3-3 at 16:17.
"It was a good comeback and a good team effort, good teamwork," Pennanen said. "My players gave everything they had."
Turcotte gave the United States a 1-0 lead when he controlled a pass from Kaliyev at his skates in the slot and scored at the left post at 12:39 of the first period.
Simontaival tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal on a one-timer at 14:06 of the first.
Farinacci scored on a breakaway after taking a stretch pass from defenseman Jackson LaCombe (Anaheim Ducks) to give the United States a 2-1 lead at 15:53 of the second period. Farinacci has scored five goals in the tournament, three in his past two games.
Boldy made it 3-1 when he scored on the power play at 17:00 of the second. Trevor Zegras (Ducks) tied Jeremy Roenick (1989) for second on the United States list for most points (16) in a single tournament and most career points (25, 10 games) at the WJC with an assist on the goal.
The United States has outscored opponents 15-4 in the second period.
It was the fifth straight win for the United States after a 5-3 loss to Russia in its first game of the preliminary round Dec. 25. The United States is 6-2-0-3 against Finland in its past 11 games. Finland had won the past two (1-0 in the quarterfinal round in 2020; 3-2 in the championship game in 2019).
"It was a lot of hard work and it's a short turnaround to the game tomorrow, but this is what we've worked for," U.S. coach Nate Leaman said. "We've been in this bubble, we've tested 27 times, we've been in isolation for five days where we can't even see a car outside, so we paid the price. I'm happy with the adversity we faced tonight but tomorrow has got to be our best game of the tournament and that's what we're focused on."
Canada 5, Russia 0: Devon Levi (Panthers) made 28 saves for his tournament-leading third shutout and Canada advanced to the championship game with the win.
Canada will play in its 18th championship game since 1996. It has won the title 10 times in that span.
Dylan Cozens (Buffalo Sabres) scored a goal and had two assists, and Alex Newhook (Colorado Avalanche), Connor McMichael (Washington Capitals), Cole Perfetti (Jets) and Braden Schneider (New York Rangers) scored for Canada.
Russia goalie Iaroslav Askarov (Nashville Predators) made 30 saves. Russia will play in the third-place game, also scheduled for Tuesday (5:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
Levi, who has started every game in his first World Juniors tournament, has made 57 saves on 57 shots in two games in the playoff round (also a 3-0 win against the Czech Republic on Jan. 2). He is tied with Justin Pogge for most shutouts for Canada at the WJC (Pogge went 6-0-0 for champion Canada in 2006).
"I'm not playing for a shutout record," Levi said. "I'm playing for a gold medal, so it doesn't really bother me. I'm looking for tomorrow. Maybe it's something to look after the tournament, but the job's not done yet."

Newhook, who missed the quarterfinal victory against the Czech Republic because of an upper-body injury, gave Canada a 1-0 lead with a snap shot at the right post that beat Askarov on the short side and over his blocker 59 seconds into the first period.
McMichael made it 2-0 after taking a pass from Jakob Pelletier (Calgary Flames) and scoring on a shot from the slot at 10:33. Perfetti scored a power-play goal on a shot from the right face-off circle for a 3-0 lead at 15:05.
Schneider made it 4-0 on a shot from the top of the left circle at 4:09 of the second period. The play began when forward Dawson Mercer (New Jersey Devils) stole the puck from defenseman Shakir Makhamadullin (Devils) in Canada's zone.
Mikhail Abramov (Maple Leafs) scored for Russia on the power play at 17:37, but the goal was challenged by Canada and overturned because Russia was offside prior to the zone entry 40 seconds earlier.
"That goal could have made a big difference in the game," Russia coach Igor Larionov said. "We're losing the game 4-0 and trying to find a way to score some goals, and the power play was going our way. We created some shots, had some rebounds and scoring the goal was some relief. But after the review, nothing you can do. That's the rules and got to respect the rules."
Askarov stopped Cozens on a penalty shot with 30 seconds remaining in the second .
Cozens scored into an empty net with 1:29 left to make it 5-0.
"Really, everything that we've worked for is to get to this (championship game)," Newhook said. "This day has been marked on all of our calendars since being here, so to finally be here and see that the work we put in has paid off to this point. We're excited to bring that mindset into tomorrow and play our game as best we can and go for gold."
Canada is 14-1-3-9 with one tie in 28 WJC games against Russia, including a 4-3 victory in the 2020 championship game.