Sweden and Finland advance to the World Junior semifinals
EDMONTON — Captain Emil Andrae scored the game-winner and Sweden cruised to a 2-1 win over Latvia in the quarterfinals of the World Hockey Championship on Wednesday.
Isak Rosen opened the scoring for Sweden 16:44 into the first period and Gustavs Ozolins buried the equalizer for Latvia late in the second.
Latvia’s Martins Lavins was ejected 89 seconds into the third for a check to the head, but his teammates killed off a five-minute major penalty to keep the score tied at 1-1.
Andrae broke the deadlock 9:49 into the third with a long shot through traffic.
Jesper Wallstedt stopped 12 shots for Sweden (4-1-0) and Bruno Bruveris made 25 saves for Latvia (1-2-1).
Earlier in the day, Roby Jarventie scored a pair of power play goals and added two assists as Finland defeated Germany 5-2 in another quarterfinal.
Jarventie’s first goal at 14:48 of the first period gave Finland a 3-1 lead and ended up as the game winner.
After Germany’s Bennet Rossmy scored his second goal of the game in the second period to make it 3-2, Jarventie restored Finland’s lead 6:22 into the third with Yannick Proske off for hooking.
Roni Hirvonen and Joel Maatta also scored power-play goals as Finland went 4-for-6 with the man advantage. Finland’s power play unit has been lethal throughout the tournament, shooting at a 59 percent clip (13-for-22).
Kasper Simontaival opened the scoring for Finland with an even goal 3:37 into the game.
Leevi Merilainen made 19 saves for Finland (4-1-0) while Florian Bugl stopped 17 shots for Germany (2-3-0).
Canada (4-0-0) will face Switzerland (1-3-0) in another quarterfinal later Wednesday.
The Canadians are led by Anaheim Ducks prospect Mason McTavish, who leads the tournament in scoring with seven goals and six assists.
The Swiss booked a place in the quarter-finals with a 3-2 win over Austria on Monday, marking their only win of the tournament so far.
The defending champion Americans (4-0-0) host the Czechs (1-2-1) in the final quarterfinal Wednesday night.
Canada took silver in the 2021 tournament, which was held at Edmonton’s Rogers Place without fans due to covid-19 restrictions.