Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of overtime as Finland pulled off a stunning four to three victory over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday evening in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.
"Got to give full credit to the US," remarked Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, full of great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I believe we truly deserved it this evening."
In the semifinal matches Sunday, the Finns will face Sweden, while the Canadians will meet the Czech Republic. The Swedes defeated Latvia six to three, Canada had a five-goal first period in a seven to one romp over Slovakia, and the Czechs overcame the Swiss by a six to two margin.
The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds remaining in the third period and the University of Notre Dame goalie Nick Kempf pulled for an additional skater.
L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second span in the third period to give their team a 2-1 lead. He leveled the score at two-all with 7:17 to go, then assisted on his teammate's go-ahead goal with 6:22 on the clock. Saarelainen also assisted on Tuuva’s goal.
The Boston University defenseman Cole Hutson had a goal and an assist for the Americans after being struck in the back of the head versus the Swiss and sitting out the next two contests.
"In my opinion we made good plays for a lot of the game," Hutson commented. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their high-quality chances resulted from our mistakes."
His university colleague C. Eiserman gave the United States a two to one edge on a power play with 9:45 remaining in the second period. He took a feed from Hutson and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right circle.
Hutson scored on a fast break thirty-five seconds into the second. Heikki Ruohonen equalized at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a quick shot from the left wing.
The U.S. squad lost their last two games – losing six to three to Sweden on Wednesday night in the final preliminary game – after winning their first three.
"It has been an honor to coach this team," stated the team's coach. "They played a terrific game tonight and fell just a bit short. All credit to Finland. It's an empty feeling at the moment, but our guys left everything on the ice."
In the second match in Minneapolis, the Canadian team overwhelmed Slovakia with the five-goal first.
C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the first period, and Porter Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the second. Jack Ivankovic made 21 saves.
"This demonstrates how powerful we are," Martin said. "Going up five-nothing advantage, it kind of kills their confidence."
In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two assists to help the Swedes remain perfect in five games.
In Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, Jiri Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czech team.
Germany triumphed in the consolation match, defeating the Danes 8-4. Manuel Schams had two goals to help his nation keep its place next year in the top division. The Danish side dropped to Division I-A.
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