With victories Thursday, the United States and Canada advanced to medal contention at the world hockey championships.
Canada continued pounding opponents with a 9-0 victory over Belarus. The U.S. won 3-1 and will face Russia, which beat defending champion Sweden in the semifinals in the Czech Republic. The Americans will have a new problem when they face the Russians on Saturday — Alex Ovechkin is expected to join his national team.
Canada’s roster is chock-full of NHL players from teams that either didn’t make the Stanley Cup playoffs or guys who headed to the Czech Republic after their teams were eliminated. Case in point: Sidney Crosby.
Now 8-0, Canada is the title favorite.
“It’s nice to put ourselves in a position to get to the finals,” Crosby said, via The Canadian Press. “The important thing is to get better every game and at this point you’ve got to be at your best. It’s win or go home, so we did a good job today.”
Tyler Seguin had a hat trick, and Ryan O’Reilly had two goals against outmanned Belarus. That gave Canada 58 goals, its highest total in IIHF World Championships competition.
Next up: the host Czechs, who beat Finland 5-3.
Ben Smith and Charlie Coyle scored less than a minute apart as the Americans recovered from a goal down. Jake Gardiner had the final U.S. goal.
“We fell behind 1-0 after the first period, but I thought we played a pretty good period,” U.S. coach Todd Richards said, via USA Hockey. Goalie Connor Hellebuyck “made some good saves early in the second period and when we got that first goal, I thought things started to change. This team continues to find a way to win and I’m really proud of the group.”
Hellebuyck is one of two minor-pro players on the U.S. roster. The Americans include two players from Europe and five collegians.
