Vancouver Canucks prospects will bring home a gold and a silver medal as the World Junior Championship wraps up today in Buffalo.
What we still don't know: who gets what. Sweden's Elias Pettersson is facing off against Canada's Jonah Gadjovich in the gold-medal game today at 5 p.m. PT.
Pettersson's power-play snipe midway through the second period of Sweden's semifinal against the U.S. got his team rolling in the right direction.
What a shot from Elias Pettersson to open the scoring in the World Junior semi-finals pic.twitter.com/zMfKj1EBCp
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) January 4, 2018
The Swedes had a hard time getting anything going offensively in the first, outshot 8-5, so Pettersson's goal finally gave the Swedes some positive momentum. The game's next turning point came just before the end of the second period, when the Americans didn't just fail to score on a 3-on-0 on the power play—Kieffer Bellows also took a goaltender interference penalty to even out the manpower situation.
In the third, Lias Andersson grew the lead to 2-0 before the Swedes took control of the game with two shorthanded goals in 42 seconds—on the same penalty. In just over two minutes, the outcome was determined.
The Americans changed their goalie—and Sweden got just one more shot in the game as the Americans pushed back, scoring once on the power play and once with an empty net.
But it wasn't enough. Sweden advances to the gold-medal game for the first time since 2014, when they fell to the Finns in Malmo.
Pettersson's 19:09 of ice time was the most of any Swedish forward. His linemates Andersson and Alex Nylander were chosen by the coaches as two of the team's three best players of the tournament, along with defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.
Olli Juolevi's Finns were eliminated in the quarterfinal, but he was chosen as his team's best defenseman.
Salo on picking Juolevi as 1 of Finland's top 3 players, "It was well deserved, it was an easy choice for the coaching staff." #Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) January 5, 2018
Salo : "Ollie had a strong tournament, defensively he was hard to play against and at the end he had some success in the offensive zone." #Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) January 5, 2018
In Thursday's second semifinal, Canada gave up the first goal for the first time in the tournament before eventually skating to an easy 7-2 win over the Czech Republic.
Jonah Gadjovich finished the night with a relatively humble 10:28 of ice time. He had two shots on goal and was a plus-one. I'd say his most important action came on the penalty kill midway through the first period when the Czechs were looking to build on their 1-0 lead. The Czechs came into the game with the best power play in the tournament—clicking at a 50 percent success rate—but Gadjovich and the Canadians went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Canadians scored on their first three man-advantage opportunities and went 3-for-4 on the night. They're now headed into the gold-medal game with a power play that has gone 13-for-23 overall—a success rate of 56.52 percent! As good as Pettersson and the Swedes have looked on their man advantages, they've converted on just 24 percent of their opportunities (6-for-25).
Special teams could be the difference today. Who ya got?
Back in the NHL, the Canucks practiced in Toronto this morning ahead of their Saturday game against the Maple Leafs.
Practice lines for #Canucks today in Toronto:
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) January 5, 2018
Sedin-Sedin-Goldobin
Vanek-Gagner-Boeser
Granlund-Dowd-Eriksson
Gaunce-Chaput-Virtanen
Baertschi and Boucher extra two forwards.
Edler-Stecher
Del Zotto-Tanev
Pouliot-Gudbranson
Hutton-Biega
Sven Baertschi won't play, but is very close to returning to action.
No Baertschi tomorrow against the Leafs according to Travis Green. Could be an option Sunday in Montreal. #Canucks
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) January 5, 2018
The Canucks also did some work on their power play, which has suddenly gone cold. It's 0-for-14 in Vancouver's last five games.
The solution? More Boeser, of course.
Boeser working with both #Canucks PP units.
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) January 5, 2018
PP1: Boeser, Edler, Sedin, Sedin, Gagner
PP2: Boeser, Pouliot, Vanek, Granlund and Eriksson
Finally, congratulations to Thatcher Demko and Reid Boucher, who were selected to play in the AHL's All-Star Classic.
BREAKING: Reid Boucher and @tdemko30 have been named to the 2018 @TheAHL All-Star Classic!
— Utica Comets (@UticaComets) January 4, 2018
Full story here: https://t.co/m28xUbolX2 pic.twitter.com/97lED2tNe3
Boucher had 13 goals and 25 points in 25 games with Utica before being recalled by the Canucks back on December 18. He has been a healthy scratch in three of six games during this most recent call-up.
As for Demko, I reviewed his strong stats earlier this week. The All-Star nod is a nice feather in his cap as his development continues to progress as hoped.
Demko on his season, "I have been able to play a lot of minutes and focus on my development while learning how to be a good pro on and off the ice." #Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) January 5, 2018
Demko on the #Canucks goalie problems and is he looking for call up "Al my focus is on the task at hand. If I am in Utica, I am all in here and focused on winning here ." #Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) January 5, 2018
Utica is hosting the AHL All-Star festivities this year. The skills competition will take place on Sunday, January 28—the same day as the NHL's All-Star Game. The AHL All-Star Game goes Monday, January 29.