World Junior Championships: USA tops Sweden, remains undefeated
Day 6 game
USA 3, Sweden 2 — Matt Coronato (Calgary Flames) scored two goals and the USA took first place in Group B in their final preliminary round match.
Brett Berard (New York Rangers) scored, Logan Cooley (Arizona Coyotes) had two assists, and Kaidan Mbereko (2023 NHL Draft eligible) made 28 saves for the USA (4-0-0-0), which went undefeated in WJC preliminary play for the fourth time since 2000.
“I think it was important to be physical,” Coronato said. “They’re a great team and do a lot of things well. I think a lot of the focus was on us and how we were going to play, and we did what we needed to do. We’re happy with the way we played. and we’re just going to keep building on to it.”
Emil Andrae (Philadelphia Flyers) had a goal and an assist, and Jesper Wallstedt (Minnesota Wild) made 38 saves for Sweden (2-0-0-1), which must win against Germany in its final preliminary game on Monday to finish second in Group B.
“I think I let the whole team down; all the players, all the staff and I let the whole country down with this loss,” Wallstedt said. “We’re off the top of our group, and a lot of that responsibility is on myself.”
Berard scored on his own rebound for a power-play goal 6:35 into the first period to give the USA a 1-0 lead.
Coronato made it 2-0 at the left post at 5:37 of the second period, then scored again at 5:26 of the third period on a shot from the left face-off circle for a 3-0 lead. The forward prospect has six points (four goals, two assists) during a four-game scoring streak.
Andrae pulled Sweden within 3-1 on a shot from the point that deflected off Mbereko’s glove at 11:38 of the third.
Åke Stakkestad scored on a 6-on-4 advantage during a Sweden power play and Wallstedt drew an extra attacker at 18:45 for the 3-2 final.
The U.S., which will next face the Czech Republic in the tournament’s quarterfinal round on Wednesday, is looking to win back-to-back titles for the first time after defeating Canada in the championship game in 2021. Canada was the last team to do so, winning five straight from 2005-09.
“It was a good team effort; we battled and got the job done,” Mbereko said. “I think when we play our game, we’re one of the best teams in the tournament, and I could tell once we got to our game that we were pretty dominant. I think we just need to stick to our game plan in the elimination round.” “
Latvia 5, Czech Republic 2 — Ralfs Bergmanis had a natural hat-trick, and Latvia upset the Czech Republic to secure third place in Group A in their final preliminary game.
Bruno Bruveris made 33 saves for Latvia (1-0-1-2), which won the World Juniors for the first time since beating Denmark 2-1 in overtime in a relegation game in 2012.
Latvia will play a quarter-final round at the WJC for the first time in their seven appearances at the U20 tournament. The country had been winless in 27 preliminary matches.
“We made history, so I’m really happy for the team and we’re really excited,” Bergmanis said. “From the beginning of the tournament, everyone joked about us that we were just happy to be here. Now we are here to win and do our best every game.”
Bruveris denied the Czechia forward Jan Mysak (Montreal Canadiens) on a penalty shot at 7:58 of the third period with his country up 4-2.
Stanislav Svozil (Columbus Blue Jackets) had a goal and an assist, and Jan Bednar (Detroit Red Wings) made 12 saves for the Czech Republic (1-0-1-2).
“It was a tough game for us,” Svozil said. “They wanted it more than us. It was like a Game 7 for them, so I don’t know what happened. Their goalkeeper was pretty good, but we have to score more goals than two against Latvia.”
Martins Lavins gave Latvia a 1-0 lead at 4:30 of the first period, and Rainers Rullers made it 2-0 from the right circle at 12:21.
Michal Gut pulled the Czech Republic within 2-1 with a power-play goal 16:43 into the first.
Svozil tied it 2-2 on a backhand from the right circle at 9:33 of the second period.
Bergmanis, a 20-year-old defenseman, gave Latvia a 3-2 lead with a shot from the right at 11:15. Latvia’s captain, who will be a freshman at the University of Vermont this season, then made it 4-2 with a power play goal at 17:38.
Bergmanis scored an empty net goal at 18:41 of the third period for the 5-2 final.
“Obviously a hat-trick is nice, but it was more important that we won the game and made history and we’re really happy about this,” Bergmanis said.
The victory of Latvia eliminated Slovakia (0-1-0-3) from the medal round. Latvia picked up a point in a 3-2 loss to Slovakia on Friday.
The Czech Republic will finish fourth in Group A.
Finland 9, Slovakia 3 — Joel Maatta (Edmonton Oilers) and Kasper Simontaival (Los Angeles Kings) scored two goals each for Finland, which remained in the fight for the top seed in Group A.
Kasper Puutio (Florida Panthers) and Aatu Raty (New York Islanders) each had a goal and two assists, Roni Hirvonen (Toronto Maple Leafs) had a goal and an assist, and Joakim Kemell (Nashville Predators), Roby Jarventie (Ottawa Senators) and Topi Niemela (Maple Leafs) had two assists apiece for Finland (2-1-0-0), which went 5-for-7 on the power play and is 8-for-13 in the tournament.
Juha Jatkola made 13 saves in his tournament debut.
Finland’s forward line of Raty, Hirvonen and Kemell combined for seven points.
“It’s a good combination,” said coach Antti Pennanen. “Aatu is really smart and can make some plays, Kemell has a great shot and Hirvonen is so mature and very responsible, so it’s a good combination. They’re good on the power play, a lot of skill on the ice, so it’s fun to watch when they play.”
Libor Nemec had a goal and an assist, and Rayen Petrovicky had two assists for Slovakia (0-1-0-3). Simon Latkoczy allowed six goals on 35 shots before being replaced in the third period by Tomas Bolo, who made 10 saves.
“I don’t know what’s not working, it was a tough game for us,” Petrovicky said. “We had a lot of PKs, and that’s what we can’t do, that’s what killed us today. We gave up five goals on PKs, and that’s terrible. We blocked a lot of shots (on the penalty), but goals came and we can’t get that many fouls. That was the main factor.”
Simontaival scored with a backhand at the left post 35 seconds into the first period to give Finland a 1-0 lead.
Peter Repcik tied the game at 1-1 at 7:42.
Maatta put Finland back in front 2-1 at 14:02, scoring from the right face-off circle with six seconds left on a power play.
Hirvonen scored another power play goal on a rebound 24 seconds into the second period to make it 3-1, but Servac Petrovsky (Wild) cut it to 3-2 at 7:04.
Finland then pulled away with three goals on their next four shots.
Maatta scored his second of the game on the power play to make it 4-2 at 11:42, Raty extended the lead to 5-2 at 16:41, and Oliver Kapanen (Canadiens) made it 6-2 on a shot from the right circle at 18:08.
Kalle Vaisanen (The Rangers) pushed it to 7-2 at 6:11 of the third period before Nemec scored for Slovakia on a layup to make it 7-3 at 9:16.
Simontaival scored a power play goal to make it 8-3 at 11:45. Puutio then scored Finland’s fifth goal with a power play at 15:17 for the 9-3 final.
Finland will play Canada for the number 1 spot in Group A on Monday. Slovakia has completed its preliminary schedule.
LNH.com staff writer Guillaume Lepage and NHL.com independent correspondent Derek Van Diest contributed to this report
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