Jets at the Worlds | Day 12
Scheifele had an assist in Canada's 5-2 win over Finland to finish first in Group B; Trouba, Copp & Team USA secure top seed in Group A
by Mitchell Clinton & Ryan Dittrick @NHLJets / WinnipegJets.com
The Winnipeg Jets have seven players participating in the 2017 IIHF World Hockey Championship, held in Paris, France and Cologne, Germany. Check back throughout the tournament for daily updates, highlights and more as Mark Scheifele, Josh Morrissey and Eric Comrie of Canada, Nikolaj Ehlers of Denmark, and Jacob Trouba, Andrew Copp and Connor Hellebuyck of the U.S. go for gold.
CANADA 5 vs. FINLAND 2
Canada wrapped up preliminary round play at the IIHF World Hockey Championship Tuesday with a 5-2 win.
Mark Scheifele had an assist on one of Mitch Marner's two goals in the game, while Josh Morrissey played 12:18 in the win that moved Canada to 6-0-1-0.
The two teams didn't waste any time putting the goal lights to work, as Mitch Marner toe dragged around sliding Finnish defenceman Atte Ohtamaa before firing a wrist shot top corner on Harri Sateri less than three minutes in.
Jani Lajunen was in the right place at the right time to respond for Finland 22 seconds later. The initial shot from Oskar Osala went off the pad of Calvin Pickard and slid across the crease, through the legs of Markus Hannikainen and Chris Lee - who were battling for position - and right on the tape of Osala, who made no mistake from just outside the blue paint.
Colton Parayko continued his strong play from his two-goal performance against Norway by putting Canada back on top before the halfway point of the first. Marner sent a backhand pass behind his back to a trailing Parayko, who ripped a one-timer stick side on Sateri for his third of the tournament.
Marner's second of the game came on the power play off a fantastic pass from Mark Scheifele. Scheifele got the puck from Nathan MacKinnon at the side of the net, and in one spinning motion, sent a backhand pass to Marner under the stick of a Finnish defender, and after a quick shot, Canada was up 3-1.
After numerous chances on a second period power play were stopped by Sateri, Canada's Brayden Point was the beneficiary of a good bounce. A point shot from Mike Matheson was deflected and kicked wide of the net, but bounced off the end boards in front. Sateri was in mid slide to the far post, and Point was able to knock in a backhand from the blue paint to put Canada ahead 4-1.
Finland got one back with 3:09 left in the second. Julius Honka held on to the puck in the Canadian zone while making his way around Canadian defenders before finally feeding a pass to Ohtamaa at the point. His slapshot beat Pickard high with traffic in front to make it 4-2 Canada.
Matt Duchene started the third period with a beautiful goal to increase Canada's lead back to three. He took a pass in the Canadian zone and with a burst of speed, pulled away from Finland's 47, then faked backhand and went forehand on Sateri for the Colorado Avalanche forward's first goal of the tournament.
Canada will now play Germany in the quarterfinal on Thursday.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
DIG DEEPER
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USA 4 vs. RUSSIA 3
The battle for the top seed in Group A in lived up to the billing Tuesday, as the United States and Russia went toe-to-toe in one of the most entertaining and unpredictable games of the tournament.
A power-play goal by Anders Lee broke a 3-3 tie with 7:04 to play in the third period as the U.S. rallied from three separate one-goal deficits to beat the undisciplined Russians 5-3.
On the winner, Jack Eichel's cross-ice pass found Johnny Gaudreau at the far side, and the Flame made short of the return feed, spotting Lee in the blue paint for the tap-in.
Jimmy Howard, who stopped 16 shots in the win, made a gargantuan stop off Artemi Panarin on shorthanded breakaway just moments after the goal to keep his team in front. That, along with an empty-netter by Brock Nelson with 21 seconds left, helped salt away the victory.
With the win, the Americans - who have won six straight games - have clinched first place in Group A and will face Finland in the quarterfinal.
Kevin Hayes (2) and Dylan Larkin had the other goals for the U.S, while former Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick Nikita Gusev scored twice for the Russians. As for the Jets: Andrew Copp had one shot on goal and two penalty minutes in 11:49 of ice time; Jacob Trouba, meanwhile, finished with one shot in 19 minutes.
Connor Hellebuyck did not play.
Gusev opened the scoring for the Russians on a breakaway at 12:29 of the first period. Gusev came off the bench and rendezvoused with a Bogdan Kiselevich pass in the neutral zone before speeding in alone and beating Howard with a quick shot under the arm.
Despite that, it was period so completely one-sided, it was miracle Russia was even in the game. The opening 20 minutes drew to an end with the Americans leading 17-3 on the shot clock, and with all kinds of momentum after drawing a last-minute penalty on Nikita Kucherov.
Finally, and after failing to score on their previous four chances (each one the result of a stick foul), the U.S. evened the score with a power-play goal at the one-minute mark of the second.
Russian goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stood tall and easily knocked down Clayton Keller's point shot, but Nelson - a fellow New Yorker - won a battle in front and got the puck over to Hayes at the side of the net, who made no mistake swiping it home from only a few feet out.
But we were just getting started.
After Anton Belov gave the Russians a 2-1 lead with a heavy shot from the point at 7:33, Larkin brought the game back on even terms with a nifty solo effort at 12:18. Larkin drew three defenders at the top of the circles and rifled a shot over the blocker, after Nelson made a great play to force a turnover at the offensive blue line.
Russia went back in front on a 3-on-1 at 16:15 as Gusev put the finishing touch on a beautiful saucer pass from the newest Vegas Golden Knight, Vadim Sipachyov.
Incredible.
The sprawling American defenceman, Noah Hanifin, had no chance.
Still, the U.S. battled back and tied things up once again, thanks in large part to a sloppy defensive effort by their Russian counterparts. Hayes, who was left all alone in front, took a pass from Gaudreau and fired a shot glove side to make it a 3-3 game just 1:28 later.
-- Ryan Dittrick, WinnipegJets.com
DIG DEEPER