. . World News – US – U. . S.. . beat Finland 4-3 to reach the junior world title game

The United States celebrate their win over Finland in an IIHF Junior World Ice Hockey Championship game in Edmonton, Alberta, Monday January. 4, 2021.

EDMONTON, Alberta – Arthur Kaliyev scored 1:16 and the USA advanced to the junior championship game, beating Finland 4-3 on Monday evening.

Alex Turcotte, John Farinacci and Matthew Boldy also scored a goal for the U. . S.. . who have won gold four times, including the last one in 2017.

Spencer Knight, one of eight returning players for a U. . S.. . The team, which finished sixth after a quarter-final loss to Finland last year, stopped 33 shots.

Kasper Simontaival had two goals and Roni Hirvonen scored for Finland too. Kari Piiroinen made 21 saves.

The USA will face Canada in the gold medal game on Tuesday, who defeated Russia 5-0 on Monday. Finland meets Russia for bronze.

Turcotte held back a Finnish defender to brush home a bouncing puck from the top of the crease and open the scoring at 12:39 for the first half.

Finland was quick to respond to a power play, with Simontaival finishing a one-touch pass from Kasper Puutio to a set play at 2:06 pm.

Knight stopped 18 of 19 shots for 40 minutes and was rewarded by his teammates when the U. . S.. . scored twice in 1:07 of the second period to take a 3-1 lead in the third.

Jackson LaCombe caught Finland making a change and slicked Farinacci down the middle from his own zone to an outlier. The American striker snapped the puck past Piiroinen at 3:53 p.m..

While Boldy had one man at an advantage, he tipped a perfect pass from Trevor Zegras to the side of the net three minutes from time.

Zegras’ assist gives him 16 points in six games, linking him to Jeremy Roenick (1989) for the second highest singles tournament score in American history. Doug Weight set the record in 1991 with 19 points.

Simontaival brought Finland back in the middle of the third half, and Hirvonen connected it with 3:43.

Alex Newhook gave Canada a 59-second lead over Russia, Connor McMichael, Cole Perfetti and Braden Schneider also scored goals, and Dylan Cozens added an empty netter to the defending champion. Devon Levi stopped 28 shots for his third shutout of the tournament.

Russian goalkeeper Yaroslav Askarow struggled at times to hold on to his bat and ended up with 30 saves.

Newhook returned after sustaining an upper body injury in Canada’s final group game against Finland last Thursday night. The Colorado Avalanche prospect missed Saturday’s quarter-final game against the Czech Republic but looked healthy on Monday as he scored his third goal of the tournament on his first shift.

McMichael increased Canada’s lead midway through the first half after a bout in front of the net caused Askarov to misplace his racket. Jakob Pelletier sent a crisp pass to McMichael, who brought him to 2-0 for Canada behind the Russian goalkeeper.

In less than five minutes, Askarov lost his stick again and Canada capitalized. Schneider shot a long shot from the top of the face-off circle and hit the side of the Russian goalkeeper’s glove. It was his first goal of the tournament.

Russia came into play in the second half with less than three minutes ahead, but was not allowed to enter the offside zone after a challenge.

Russia pushed hard in the third. Shakir Mukhamadullin almost hit the center of the frame and fired a shot from the post.

Both teams were down to four men, and there was just over four minutes left after Peyton Krebs and Zakhar Bardakov were asked to rough.

The Russians pulled Askarov about three minutes before the end, and Cozens buried the gate with the empty net with 1:29 on the clock.

The 19-year-old also had two assists in the game. With 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) Cozens leads the tournament in the ranking.

Junior Ice Hockey World Championships, Canada, Canadian Men’s National Ice Hockey Team, Ice Hockey, Russia