More action for Rangers prospects with WJC next round set

The preliminary round is over at the WJC and all New York Rangers prospects are on the top two teams

What shaped up to be a nailbiting night of WJC hockey was pretty anticlimactic as both the United States and Canada won their games handily and they each finished first in their respective groups.  New York Rangers prospects Brett Berard and Braden Schneider played a key role in the wins. Here are the final standings for each group:

Group A

1. Canada    4-0 -0  12 points
2. Finland   3-1 -0  9 points
3. Germany     2-2-0  5 points
4. Slovakia    1-2-1   4 points
5. Switzerland   0-4-0  0 points

Group B

1. United States    3-1-0   9 points
2. Russia    3-1-0     8  points
3. Sweden    2-1-1   7 points
4. Czech Republic    2-2-0   6 points
5. Austria   0-4-0   0 points

Teams got three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime win and one point for an overtime loss.  Even though Team USA lost to Russia, all of their wins were in regulation while Russia won one game in overtime, so Team USA finished first.

It is significant as the teams now crossover and the first seed in each group plays the fourth seed in the opposing group and the second seed in each plays the third seed in the other group.

So, for the quarterfinals of the playoff round, Team USA will face Slovakia while Canada will play the Czech Republic. Russia will play Germany and Sweden takes on Finland.

Team USA’s win

The match with Sweden was a big one with Team USA  and Sweden both needing a regulation to finish first in the Group.  The final score was 4-0 and the game was never in doubt. The United States got on the scoreboard early and it was a Rangers prospect who made it happen.  Forward Brett Berard was on the ice and screening the goalie when Drew Helleson’s shot eluded Swedish goalie Hugo Alnefelt.

It was a huge goal just 1:09 into the game. Watching the play unfold, the puck is carried into the Swedish zone and John Farinacci takes a harmless shot from the blue line.  The goalie mishandles the shot and it goes right to Helleson who beats him on a sharp angle shot.

He didn’t get a point, but look where Brett Berard  (#21) was on the play.  Right in front of Alnefelt as the shot was taken.  Berard has been going to the net the entire tournament and this was no different.   He ended up playing 11 minutes on 17 shifts, the least amount of ice time for any US forward. There was no word on why his ice time was limited in the game.

Again, Rangers defense prospect Hunter Skinner did not dress for the game as an extra blueliner.

Team Canada’s win

Canada also had little trouble in their win, defeating Finland 4-1.  They jumped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the second period and despite a third period goal from Finland, the result was never in doubt.   Dylan Cozens iced the win with an empty net goal.

Rangers first round draft pick Braden Schneider played 21 shifts for 16:18 minutes of ice time. second to Thomas Harley among defensemen.  He notched an assist on Canada’s second goal.

Schneider (#2)  took a shot from the point to start the netfront scramble and it is his pass to Jakob Pelletier that sets up the shot that deflected into the net off Dylan Holloway.  It was the secondary assist, but it was Schneider’s pass that set up the goal.

Goalie Dylan Garand didn’t see any action as Canada has gone with Devon Levi in net for all except one period of the tournament.

The upcoming schedule

The quarterfinal games will be played on January 2 after a day off.  Here is the full schedule with all games to be televised live on the NHL Network. All times are EST.

Saturday, January 2

12 pm  Russia vs. Germany
330 pm Finland vs. Sweden
7 pm Canada vs. Czech Republic
1030 pm USA vs. Slovakia

After the quarterfinals, here is the rest of the schedule:

Monday, January 4

6 pm: Semifinal Game 1
930 pm:  Semifinal Game 2

Tuesday, January 5

530 pm: Bronze Medal Game
930 pm:   Gold Medal Game

From the results so far, it looks like we could be headed to a USA-Canada final.  That has happened only four times in the 45 year history of the official WJC tournament.  After Canada beat the United States for the gold in 1997, Team USA has won the last three times they have faced each other, in 2004, 2010 and 2017.