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USA Falls Short to Finland, 6-5; Canada Beats Sweden 5-2

By USA Hockey, 08/02/19, 3:15PM MDT

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Final Games to be Played on Saturday on NHL Network

The U.S. scored two times in the third period, but fell short of a comeback as Finland held on to win, 6-5, in the final game on Friday afternoon at USA Hockey Arena.

In the final day of action on Saturday, Finland will take on Sweden at 1 p.m. ET before the U.S. takes on Canada at 4 p.m. ET. Both games can be viewed live on NHL Network.

Finland 6, USA 5

The U.S. nearly opened the scoring six minutes in when Trevor Janicke (City, State) skated down the left wall and fired a shot on goal that rolled over the shoulder of Finnish goaltender Jasper Patrikainen and fell inside the backside of his jersey before crossing the goal line.

Two minutes later, Cole Caufield (Stevens Point, Wis.) nearly converted when he took a centering feed from Jon Gruden (Rochester Hills, Michigan) and wired a wrist shot off the crossbar and out of play.

Isaiah Saville (Anchorage, Alaska), starting his second game of the Showcase, stood tall at the midway point of the frame by turning aside a series of Finnish chances.

One minute later, Sampo Ranta gave Finland a 1-0 lead when he skated in uncontested and lifted a backhanded chance Saville’s left shoulder. 

In search of a quick response, the U.S. saw a pair of chances come back-to-back just three minutes later. Blake McLaughlin (Grand Rapids, Minn.) generated the first effort when he ripped a shot from the left hash mark that was turned aside by Patrikainen. On the ensuing U.S. possession, a couple of scrums at the top of Finland’s crease ended with Trevor Zegras (Bedford, N.Y.) ringing a shot off the left post and out of harm’s way.

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A seven-goal second period saw Finland increase its lead to 5-3. Back-to-back goals from Santeri Salmela and Anttoni Honka came within the first five minutes of play before Curtis Hall (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) connected at the 6:28 mark by banging home an off-the-boards pass from Bode Wilde (Birmingham, Mich.). After Finland’s Joonas Oden responded a minute later, Saville was relieved in place of U.S. net minder Dustin Wolf (Tustin, Calif.). 

With 7:57 to play in the frame, Caufield made it 4-2 when he collected a centering feed from Gruden, cut through the slot and fired a wrist shot inside the right post. One minute later, Elias Laitamaki beat Wolf with a slapshot from the point to give Finland a 5-2 lead. 

In the last minute of the stanza, the U.S. answered again when Arthur Kaliyev (Delray Beach, Fla.) converted off a slapshot from the left face-off dot for a 5-3 score to enter the second intermission.

The final stanza opened with Finland extending its lead 4:34 into the stanza when Aleks Haatenen jammed home a loose puck off an initial wraparound chance from Patrik Siikanen.

Jack Drury (Winnetka, Ill.) struck back two minutes later with Team USA’ss second powerplay tally of the game. With the U.S. cycling the puck at the blue line, K’Andre Miller (Minnetonka, Minn.) dished the puck towards the left wall where Caufield faked a shot before sending it to the far right face-off dot where Drury one-timed the puck into a wide-open goal.

In the final six minutes of play, Kaliyev and Zac Jones (Glen Valley, Va.) generated back-to-back scoring chances that wouldn’t go. After a breakaway chance from Kaliyev wouldn’t slide through the pads of Patrikainen, Jones followed up for a wrist shot off the rebound that was gloved aside.

Attempting to mount a late comeback, the U.S. pulled their goalie. With 1:21 to play, Zegras scored with the extra attacker to make it 6-5. With less than a minute left, Zegras and Kaliyev each had chances that were turned aside, securing the win for Finland.


Canada 5, Sweden 2

The Canadian squad wasted no time getting on the scoresheet as Akil Thomas potted the game’s first goal just 19 seconds into play. Defenseman Bowen Byram took the initial shot from the center-point and Thomas redirected the puck in for a 1-0 Canadian advantage. Byram and Justin Barron were credited with the assists on the score.

Benoit-Oliver Groulx doubled Canada’s lead at the 12:40 mark of the opening frame. After a scrum behind the Swedish cage, Aidan Dudas pushed the loose puck to an open area in front of the net. Groulx collected and fired a wrist-shot by a screened Jesper Eliasson to make it a 2-0 game.

Canada made it three-straight scores off a rebound tap-in from Gabriel Fortier at 10:05 of the second period. Eliasson made the first save off a shot from Thomas, but Fortier cleaned up the loose rebound and deposited a backhand into the net to make it a 3-0 contest. Thomas and Dudas each picked up their second point of the game with assists on the goal.

Sweden got on the board with a power-play tally with just under four minutes remaining in the middle stanza. As a 5-on-3 advantage turned into a 5-on-4, Philip Broberg took a pass from Lucas Raymond and sniped a wrister from the point to make the score 3-1. Alexander Holtz added an assist on the man-up score.

Canada used a 5-on-3 power play of its own to restore the three-goal lead. Byram fed Nolan Foote at the top of the point where he lined up a shot on net. After the first save was made, Connor McMichael found the rebound and put it home for his second goal of the tournament.

An empty-net tally from Carson Focht at the 17:15 mark extended Canada's lead to 5-1 before a goal from Sweden's David Gustafsson in the final minute of regulation accounted for the 5-2 final.

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U.S. Roster as of July 29

2019 WJSS

2020 World Juniors


2019 World Junior Summer Showcase Game Schedule

Date Game Time (ET) Broadcast Tickets
Friday, July 26 USA Blue vs. USA White USAW, 1-0 (SO) HockeyTV Free Admission
Saturday, July 27 USA White vs. Finland FIN, 3-2 HockeyTV BUY NOW
Saturday, July 27 USA Blue vs. Sweden USAB, 4-2 HockeyTV BUY NOW
Sunday, July 28 USA Blue vs. Finland USAB, 7-1 HockeyTV BUY NOW
Sunday, July 28 USA White vs. Sweden SWE, 2-1 (OT) HockeyTV BUY NOW
Tuesday, July 30 Canada vs. USA CAN, 4-1 HockeyTV BUY NOW
Wednesday, July 31 Canada vs. Finland FIN, 8-3 NHL Network BUY NOW
Wednesday, July 31 USA vs. Sweden USA, 6-0 NHL Network BUY NOW
Friday, August 2 Sweden vs. Canada CAN, 5-2 NHL Network BUY NOW
Friday, August 2 Finland vs. USA FIN, 6-5 NHL Network BUY NOW
Saturday, August 3 Sweden vs. Finland SWE, 6-3 NHL Network BUY NOW
Saturday, August 3 USA vs. Canada USA, 5-3 NHL Network BUY NOW

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