Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable four to three victory over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.
"We must give credit to the United States," remarked Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "That's a hell of a team, loaded with great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that revenge from the previous final, and I believe we truly deserved it tonight."
In the semifinal matches on Sunday, Finland will face Sweden, while the Canadians will meet the Czech Republic. Sweden beat the Latvian side 6-3, Canada produced a five-goal first period in a 7-1 rout over Slovakia, and the Czechs overcame the Swiss by a six to two margin.
Michigan State’s Lee Ryker knotted the score for the United States with 1:33 left in the third period and the University of Notre Dame netminder Nick Kempf off for an extra attacker.
Lee Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second burst in the third period to hand Finland a two to one advantage. Tuuva leveled the score at two-all with 7:17 to go, then assisted on Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with 6:22 remaining. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.
The BU defenseman Cole Hutson had a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the head against Switzerland and sitting out two games.
"In my opinion we made good plays for most of the game," Hutson commented. "But the little bounces that they got, a lot of their Grade-A chances resulted from our errors."
His university colleague Cole Eiserman handed the United States a 2-1 edge on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He accepted a pass from Hutson and beat the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right circle.
C. Hutson tallied on a fast break 35 seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left side.
The U.S. squad lost their last two games – falling 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday in the group finale – after winning their first three.
"It has been an honor to coach this team," stated the team's coach. "Our guys played a great game today and came up just short. Give Finland. It's an empty emotion right now, but our players gave it all they had."
In the late game in Minneapolis, the Canadian team routed Slovakia with the five-goal first.
Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the first period, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin connected in the following period. J. Ivankovic made 21 saves.
"This demonstrates how powerful we are," B. Martin remarked. "Taking a five-nothing advantage, it really saps their confidence."
In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two helpers to help the Swedes remain undefeated in their five outings.
Meanwhile, in Minneapolis T. Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, Petr Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czech team.
The German team won the consolation match, beating Denmark 8-4. Manuel Schams scored twice to ensure his nation retain its place next year in the top division. The Danish side was relegated to the second tier.
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