Scores
Switzerland 3 Czech 6
USA 5 Finland 4
Slovakia 5 Denmark 1
Russia 3 Sweden 4
Upcoming games (Medal rounds begin)
January 2, 2018
Belarus vs Denmark (relegation game)
Czech vs Finland
Canada vs Switzerland
Sweden vs Slovakia
USA vs Russia
January 4, 2018
Denmark vs Belarus (relegation game)
TBD
January 5, 2018
Belarus vs Denmark (relegation game)
TBD
STANDINGS
Group A
| TEAM | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS | +/- |
| Canada | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 15 |
| USA | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 10 |
| Finland | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| Slovakia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | -4 |
| Denmark | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -24 |
Group B
| TEAM | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS | +/- |
| Sweden | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 13 |
| Czech | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
| Russia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| Switzerland | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | -10 |
| Belarus | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -10 |
Fox saves U.S.
Adam Fox broke a 4-4 tie with a goal at 18:23 of the third period to give the United States a dramatic 5-4 win over Finland. The U.S. led at one point, 3-0.
The Americans also led 4-2 but Finland rallied with two quick goals in the third to tie the score.
Fox took a pass down the right wing in full flight and beat goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with a shot through the pads to give the U.S. a win to close out the round robin for both teams. The U.S. finished with three wins (one in a shootout) and a loss while Finland had two wins and two losses.
Captain Joey Anderson had two goals today; Fox and Casey Mittelstadt had a goal and two assists each; and, Brady Tkachuk had three assists. Mittelstadt now leads all scorers with nine points.
Both teams had already qualified for the quarter-finals, though their opponents won’t be known until later tonight once all round-robin games have been completed.
Rise of the Roman Empire
Like a conquering hero, Milos Roman scored twice to lift Slovakia to a 5-1 win over Denmark on Sunday and a 2018 World Junior quarter-final berth in Buffalo.
“I think Denmark started very well,” said Roman. “We had problems in the first five minutes, but after that our game got better. I am happy with my team. We won 5-1 and we’re in the quarter-final. It’s great.” Finishing fourth in Group A, the Slovaks will battle the first-place Group B team on 2 January. It would have been tragic to squander this opportunity in their round-robin finale after hitting an emotional high with the 3-2 upset over the defending champion United States. “It wouldn’t have meant anything if we lost tonight,” said Samuel Bucek, who leads Slovakia with six points.
Bucek and Martin Fehervary added a goal and an assist apiece for Slovakia, and Adam Liska also tallied. Joachim Blichfeld replied for Denmark.
Sweden prevails, 4-3
Sweden will now play Slovakia in one quarter-finals while the Russians will have the tougher task of facing the Americans at 8pm on Tuesday night.
Steen and Linus Lindstrom scored in the shootout for Sweden while only Vitali Abramov scored for Russia.
That continues Sweden’s extraordinary success in the preliminary round of the World Juniors. Their last loss was to the United States on December 31, 2006. Since that game, they have won ridiculous 44 games in a row (four in overtime) over the last eleven years.
Three times Sweden held a lead in the game, and three times the Russians rallied to tie the score.
“We played okay,” offered Steen, assessing the team’s play tonight. “It was an up and down game, but I think we deserved to win. I think we’ve played better and better in the last week, but I don’t think we’ve played our best yet. We can do better.”
“I think we played a pretty solid game all the way through,” agreed Timothy Liljegren, one of Sweden’s goal scorers. “We were playing against a Russian team that is really good offensively, so it feels good to get the win.”
OHL Writers 