5 Things learned from Day 4 of World Juniors

Thursday was the fourth day of the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held in Toronto and Montreal. See the full schedule here.
Results
Denmark 3, Czech Republic 2 (OT)
United States 3, Russia 2
Sweden 3, Finland 1
Canada 10, Latvia 2

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Five things we learned

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United States ends losing streak against Russia

Forward Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes) had a goal and an assist and Tyler Parsons (Calgary Flames) made 25 saves to help the United States end a five-game losing streak against Russia at the World Junior Championship with a 3-2 victory in Group B play at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
It was the first victory by the United States against Russia since a 3-2 preliminary-round win on Dec. 29, 2007.
Troy Terry (Anaheim Ducks) and Colin White (Ottawa Senators) also scored for the United States.
"We showed a lot of heart and effort in sticking with the game plan and really shutting it down in the end was good," Keller said. "I think all of our lines can score and play with skill and speed, so when you take care of the defensive zone that leads to offense."
Kirill Urakov and Karill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild) scored Ilya Samsonov (Washington Capitals) made 34 saves for Russia.
Parsons made 10 saves in the third. His lunging, arm stop against Iakov Trenin (Nashville Predators) with 25 seconds remaining may have been his best.
"We held them down and limited scoring chances," Parsons said. "Now it's just a matter of moving forward and keep up the way we've been playing. In the third, I just let the puck come to me and had to make the big saves to keep the team in it."
The United States will play Canada with first place in Group B at stake at Air Canada Centre on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN).

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Raddysh joins elite company

Right wing Taylor Raddysh (Tampa Bay Lightning) became the fourth Canada player to score four goals in a game at the World Junior Championship in a 10-2 win against Latvia at Air Canada Centre.
Raddysh scored a natural hat trick in the second, and one more in the third to tie Mario Lemieux in 1983, Simon Gagne in 1999 and Brayden Schenn in 2011. Raddysh, who finished with five points and took six shots, has five goals and six points in three WJC games.
"That's pretty cool when you see your name beside those guys," Raddysh said. "That was a fun night. I just have to enjoy the moment for what it is and not rely on it too much and focus on the next game."
Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders) scored twice and Nicolas Roy (Carolina Hurricanes), Anthony Cirelli (Tampa Bay Lightning), Michael McLeod (New Jersey Devils) and Julien Gauthier (Carolina Hurricanes) had one apiece. Carter Hart (Philadelphia Flyers) made 23 saves.

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Forging an identity

Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins), who led United States defensemen in ice time (20:22) against Russia, can sense an identity after three straight victories.
McAvoy, an alternate captain, said there's a slight difference between the 2016 U.S. national junior team, with which he won a bronze medal, and the 2017 team.
"We can really battle," he said. "We have the skill, but we're not afraid to get down and grind and wear teams down. I think that's something we did [against Russia] and something we'll have to do the rest of the tournament."

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Finland on brink of relegation round

Forward Alexander Nylander (Buffalo Sabres) had two goals and an assist and Felix Sandstrom (Philadelphia Flyers) made 28 saves to lead Sweden to a 3-1 win against Finland at Bell Centre.
The win enabled Sweden to clinch first place in Group A.
Finland, which won six of seven games and scored 35 goals on the way to winning a gold medal in the 2016 WJC, has scored four goals in three straight losses.
Finland needs to defeat Switzerland on Friday to avoid the relegation round as the fifth-place team in Group A. Sweden seeks its first gold since 2012 and first medal of any kind since winning a silver in 2014.

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Dazzling Denmark

Forward Mathias From, a fifth-round selection (No. 143) of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2016 NHL Draft, scored 47 seconds into overtime to give surprising Denmark a 3-2 win against the Czech Republic at Bell Centre.
Denmark won 3-2 against defending gold medalist Finland on Tuesday. The Danes entered the tournament with just two wins in their history at the World Under-20 Junior Championship, both against Switzerland (4-3 in a shootout on Dec. 30, 2014, and 2-1 on Dec. 27, 2015).
From was making his tournament debut after missing the first two games because of a lower-body injury he suffered during training camp on Dec. 15.

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What's next

Friday
Switzerland vs. Denmark (5 p.m. ET; Bell Centre, NHLN, TSN) -- Denmark seeks a third straight win and second-place finish in Group A with a victory. A win by Switzerland assures a fourth-place finish.
Slovakia vs. Latvia (7:30 p.m. ET; Air Canada Centre, NHLN, TSN) -- The winner moves into fourth place in Group B; the loser is one step closer to playing in the relegation round at Bell Centre beginning Monday.