'WORLDS' RESET: Atkinson, Dubois help U.S. and Canada advance

Five Blue Jackets players are moving onto the semifinal stage of the 2018 IIHF Men's World Championship and the offseason has officially begun for four others.
After an exciting day of hockey Thursday in Denmark, which was filled with one-goal games, the Blue Jackets had more to be happy about, including performances by Cam Atkinson of the U.S. and Canada's Pierre-Luc Dubois - who each scored goals to help their teams advance to the semifinals Saturday at Royal Arena in Copenhagen.
Atkinson's goal was his seventh of the tournament, scored in a 3-2 victory against the Czech Republic, while Dubois scored his third goal in eight games for Canada, which edged Russia 5-4 in overtime.
"It's huge," Atkinson said of U.S. win, which guaranteed the Americans will at least play for a medal. "Like I said before this game, we're a confident bunch. We were up 2-0 [in the first period]. They're obviously a good team, so they were resilient and came back. We just found a way to get it done and we're ready for the next challenge ahead of us."

That would be a semifinal matchup against Sweden, the defending world champion.
The Swedes have a roster filled with elite NHL talent, which means the U.S. has an uphill climb standing in the way of its first opportunity to play for a non-Olympic world championship since 1950 - when the the Americans earned a silver medal. Despite the challenge, the U.S. is excited by the opportunity.
"We just want to play and keep going," said Bill Zito, the Blue Jackets' assistant general manager and Team USA's GM for this tournament. "That's what happens. When you have a little bit of success, then you just want to keep it going and you want to get there. This is a good team we're playing, though. This is a talented team. We're going to have to play our 'A' game for sure."
Canada doesn't have quite as daunting of a matchup, on paper at least, thanks to a big upset by Switzerland. The Swiss defeated Finland 3-2 in Herning, which ended the season for Blue Jackets defenseman Markus Nutivaara, who scored a goal, had nine points (three goals, six assists) in eight games and was named one of Finland's top three players in the tournament.
"He had a good year," said Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen, who signed Nutivaara to a contract extension in late March. "That's why we signed him. With all of our roles, it's pretty tough to get ahead of [defensemen] Zach Werenski and Seth Jones to get some power-play time, and on the Finnish team, he was really the only [NHL] defenseman on the team besides [Julius Honka]. He got all kinds of ice time and responsibility, offensively, as well. Hopefully he can continue that [next season], as well."
Switzerland's win also had a Columbus connection, as defenseman Dean Kukan will also play for a medal this weekend, holding down the left point on the second defense pairing for the Swiss. Kukan also signed a contract extension this season, after impressing the Blue Jackets' coaching staff and front office in just 11 games played at the NHL level.
"He's solid [in the tournament]," said Kekalainen, who watched the world championship's preliminary rounds in Copenhagen, where Switzerland played in Group A. "He played well [with us] and that's why he earned the contract. He showed us that at the NHL level, almost better than he did in the [American Hockey League], and sometimes that can happen with certain style of players."
Columbus also had goaltending prospect Elvis Merzlikins in action during the quarterfinals Thursday, as Latvia concluded the tournament with a 3-2 loss to Sweden in Copenhagen. Merzlikins, who finished the tournament with a sterling 1.50 goals-against average and .940 save percentage, made 31 saves on 34 shots and nearly helped the Latvians earn an upset victory.
That game was just like the other three games in the quarterfinals, which were also tightly-contested.
That included the first two, won by the U.S. and Canada.
The Americans won on a third-period goal scored by Chicago Blackhawks star right wing, Patrick Kane, who scored his second goal of the game and eighth in the tournament. The U.S. captain took advantage of a Czech defender falling, carried the puck to the left face-off circle and snapped a wrist shot inside the right post to break a 2-2 tie.
It was Kane's 19th point, which leads all scorers and is the most ever by a U.S. player in a world championship tournament outside of the Olympics. Kane also scored the game's first goal, which was followed in the first period by Atkinson's goal to make it 2-0. Atkinson scored off a great pass by center Nick Bonino of the Nashville Predators, who found him wide open near the net.
The goal, which Atkinson scored with a quick backhand, was the 11th point for the Blue Jackets forward.
"It was a great play by [Johnny Gaudreau], bringing the puck in, kind of delaying and hitting [Bonino]," Atkinson said. "I just broke in and was all alone. He saw me, but I was calling for it pretty good, and I just happened to have an open net."
The U.S. lost in the quarterfinal round of the world championship last season in Cologne, Germany, after a strong showing in the preliminary round. This time the Americans' dream of winning a gold medal remains alive. Outside of Olympic competition, the U.S. hasn't won a gold medal at 'worlds' since 1933, a span of 75 years.
The Americans are also motivated by the memory of Jim Johannson, their beloved former executive director of USA Hockey, who died unexpectedly Jan. 21 at age 53 in Colorado Springs.
"That's the main focus here, you know, winning gold and doing it for J.J.," Atkinson told BlueJackets.com earlier this week. "What better way of doing that than winning gold and representing the USA in his honor? His brother [John Johannson] is here right now, so we know we have a specific mission and a goal. It is to win gold, but we're doing it all for J.J."
The Canadians also had an emotional day Thursday.
Facing a Russian team that outscored its opponents by a combined 32-10 margin in seven Group A games, Canada ended a see-saw game with a power-play goal in overtime by Ryan O'Reilly.
Dubois, who played center for the first time in the tournament, gave the Canadians a 4-3 lead in the third period with his sixth point in eight games. After Russian goalie Igor Shestyorkin left a juicy rebound in the low slot, Dubois muscled his way past a Russian defender and swatted the puck into the net on the short side.
The lead didn't last long, as former Blue Jackets forward Artem Anisimov tied it 4-4 just 1:58 later, which forced OT.
Sonny Milano also played for the U.S. and Vladislav Gavrikov, another Jackets' prospect, played on the first defense pairing for Russia.
Correspondent Julie Robenhymer is in Denmark covering the tournament and contributed to this report.