New York Rangers prospects are still alive in the WJC, moving on to the Semi-finals on Monday
Braden Schneider and Team Canada won fairly easily, beating the Czech Republic 3-0 while Brett Berard and Team USA had a little more difficulty, prevailing over Slovakia 5-2. It means that the New York Rangers will be represented in the Semi-finals on Monday.
In Canada’s win, Schneider played 12:50 as scored two first period goals and added an empty net goal in the third period. The workhorses on defense for Canada were Bowan Byram and Jamie Drysdale, but Schneider continued to play a physical game and looks to be a positive addition to the Rangers in the future.
Team USA jumped out to a 3-0 lead over Slovakia and could have had more if not for the work of Slovakian goalie Simon Latkoczy. Brett Berard got an assist on the second goal scored by Team USA’s John Farinacci as the line of Berard, Farinacci and Bobby Brink continued to be a buzzsaw.
3 bounces and into the back of the net 🥅 pic.twitter.com/4w3Uj3uP7l
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 3, 2021
Berard fed Ryan Johnson for the point shot that went in off Farinacci.
Berard was also part of the play when Farinacci scored his second goal of the game in the third period. That was a key goal as Slovakia had scored two goals to pull within 3-2 with 10 minutes left in the game.
John Farinacci works out of the office in Edmonton to put @usahockey up 4-2 and in the driver's seat for a berth in the #WorldJuniors semi-finals! pic.twitter.com/T5uzSL7xrH
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) January 3, 2021
Berard finished with a plus/minus of +2 and two shots on goal in 12:19 minutes of play.
The competition
Russia beat Germany 2-1 and Finland eliminated Sweden 3-2 so the semi-final matchups are set. The Finland-Sweden game was one of the most exciting of the tournament as Finland clawed their way back from a 2-0 first period deficit scoring a second period goal and tying the game 1 minutes into the third period. Finland won on a goal with just 25 seconds left in the period.
Roni Hirvonen with less than 25 seconds to go! 3-2 Finland #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/5GbwYlAZWq
— World Hockey Report (@worldhockeyrpt) January 2, 2021
Up next
The Semi-finals are set, with Canada taking on Russia and the United States playing Finland. It’s a rematch of last year’s gold medal game between Team Canada and Russia. For Team USA, they will be looking for revenge as Finland eliminated the USA last year in the quarterfinals.
Both games will be televised live on Monday on the NHL Network. Canada vs. Russia will start at 6pm EST. USA vs. Finland is set for 9:30pm EST. Both games promise to be outstanding tests for both Team USA and Canada.