Canada, United States Advance to Semifinals

Canada advanced to the semifinal round of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship on Saturday night as it shutout the Czech Republic 3-0 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Dylan Cozens got Canada on the board early in the first period with a breakaway goal, and Colorado Avalanche prospect Bowen Byram doubled his team's lead right after a power-play opportunity expired. Connor McMichael sealed the win with an empty-net tally with less than three minutes remaining in regulation.
Byram skated a game-high 24:53, finished the game with a plus-1 rating and was named the player of the game for Team Canada. He now has four points (one goal, three assists) in five outings in the 2021 World Juniors and leads the tournament with a plus-14 rating.

Fellow Avs prospect Justin Barron had a plus-2 rating in the win against the Czech Republic after logging 16:50 of ice time. Alex Newhook missed the contest after leaving Canada's previous game against Finland with an upper-body injury.
Canada will take on Russia in a semifinal matchup on Monday at 4 p.m. MT.

United States (5) vs. Slovakia (2)

The United States picked up a 5-2 win against Slovakia on Saturday at Rogers Place to advance to the semifinal round.
Arthur Kaliyev scored the only goal of the first period on the power play, and Cole Caufield added another man-advantage tally in the second frame when the United States had a 5-on-3 situation.
Team Slovakia made it a 3-2 game with a power-play marker of their own midway through the final stanza, but the United States scored twice in the final five minutes of play to secure their spot in the semifinals. John Farinacci found the back of the net twice in the game for the Americans.
Avalanche prospect Drew Helleson had one shot on net in 17:33 of ice time. The defenseman has skated in all five games for his country and has two goals and one assist in the tournament.
The United States will face Team Finland in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. MT on Monday.