Noah Hanifin: United States, Sebastian Aho: Finland
After winning six straight contests to snag first place in Group A, Noah Hanifin and Team USA drew Sebastian Aho and the fourth-seeded Finnish national team from Group B. The Americans were shut out by Team Finland, 2-0, a disappointing and sudden end to the tournament for a talented American squad. To their credit, the Finns bounced back in a big way after being thumped 5-2 by Canada in their final preliminary round game; they tightened up defensively and won the special teams battle to advance in tournament play. Aho recorded an assist on Mikko Rantanen's power-play goal in the second period, which proved to be the game-winner. Hanifin paced Team USA defensemen with 22:59 of ice time.
Finland will now square off with neighboring country Sweden in the semifinal round on Saturday.
Jeff Skinner: Canada
In search of its third straight World Championship gold medal, Team Canada faced off with the Germans on their home ice in Cologne. Philipp Grubauer stopped 48 of 50 shots for Germany, but they were unable to best the stalwart Canadians in a 2-1 final. Late in the second period, Jeff Skinner was strong on his skates at the top of the crease and deposited the rebound from Mike Matheson's point shot. That goal would ultimately be the game-decider, as the Germans pulled within a goal shorthanded in the third period. In addition to his goal, Skinner tallied six shots on goal and was a plus-1 in 14:41 of ice time.
