U.S. To Face Finland in Quarterfinal Matchup

By USA Hockey, 12/31/19, 4:00PM EST

National Junior Team Seeking Its Fifth Consecutive Medal at World Junior Championship

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic - The U.S. National Junior Team will play Finland in a quarterfinal matchup on Thursday (Jan. 2) at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, it was announced by the IIHF. The game is set for 5:30 p.m. local time/11:30 a.m. ET at Werk Arena in Trinec, Czech Republic, and will be broadcast live on NHL Network.

The U.S. completed the preliminary round with a record of 2-1-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) and finished as the second seed in Group B, while Finland is the third seed in Group A and completed preliminary round play with a record of 2-0-1-1.

Team USA has won its last four quarterfinal games in the IIHF World Junior Championship. The U.S. and Finland have met in the quarterfinal round of the World Juniors twice, with the U.S. winning both contests -- 6-2 in 2010 and 6-3 in 2007.

The U.S. is 11-0-0-7 (W-OTW-OTL-L) all-time in IIHF World Junior Championship quarterfinal history, including its most recent win over the Czech Republic in 2019. The 3-1 victory, led by Cayden Primeau’s effort in net stopping 18 of 19 shots, would eventually lead to the U.S. winning a silver medal. For more information about the tournament click here.

NOTE: Other quarterfinal matchups include Russia-Switzerland at 12:30 p.m. in Trinec, while the two quarterfinals games in Ostrava include Canada-Slovakia at 3:00 p.m. and Sweden-Czech Republic at 8:00 p.m.

DID YOU KNOW

The IIHF World Junior Championship has been played in Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic five times previous to this 2020 championship. The U.S. finishes: 1977 (7th), 1987 (4th), 1994 (6th), 2002 (5th) and 2008 (4th).

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U.S. Tournament Schedule

Date	Opponent	Location	TIME (LOCAL/ET)/RESULT	Broadcast	U.S. Player of the Game
Thurs., Dec. 26	Canada Preliminary	Ostravar Arena	L, 4-6	NHL Network	Shane Pinto
Fri., Dec. 27	Germany Preliminary	Ostravar Arena	W, 6-3	NHL Network	Trevor Zegras
Sun., Dec. 29	Russia Preliminary	Ostravar Arena	W, 3-1	NHL Network	Spencer Knight
Mon., Dec. 30	Czech Republic Preliminary	Ostravar Arena	OTW, 4-3	NHL Network	Cole Caufield
Thurs., Jan. 2	Finland Quarterfinal	Werk Arena	L, 0-1	NHL Network	Spencer Knight