Canada cruises previous Russia, advances to gold medal recreation at world juniors

After beating Russia 5-0 in semifinal motion on Monday, Canada will look to defend its title on Tuesday.

“The picture of [playing for gold] has been probably our driving force since we got here,” Levi mentioned on a video name after Monday’s win. “We’ve put in a lot to this. It’s a great feeling that we’re here and that we got here. But the job’s not done yet.”

The tilt between Canada and Russia on Monday was a rematch of final yr’s gold-medal recreation, which noticed the Canadians claw their method again from a deficit for a dramatic 4-3 win.

WATCH | Canada captures shutout win over Russia in world junior semis:

Braden Schneider scored within the second interval of Canada’s 5-0 semifinal win over Russia on the world junior hockey championship. 0:25

The rigidity was decrease this yr, nevertheless, with Canada dominating the Russians from the beginning.

Alex Newhook returned from harm to place the host nation on the board simply 59 seconds into the sport.

There have been fears that the Colorado Avalanche prospect from Corner Brook, N.L., wouldn’t return to the match after struggling an upper-body harm in Canada’s ultimate preliminary-round recreation in opposition to Finland on New Year’s Eve.

He missed Saturday’s quarterfinal recreation in opposition to the Czech Republic however appeared wholesome on Monday when he scored his third aim of the match on his first shift of the sport.

Newhook’s shot hit the again bar of the Russian internet and popped again out earlier than anybody registered the aim. Play continued till the aim horn was sounded and officers reviewed the video as Newhook’s teammates congratulated him on the bench.

“I had no idea. I thought it was straight crossbar and out,” Newhook mentioned. “But seeing the video after was a good feeling, for sure.”

Connor McMichael, Cole Perfetti and Braden Schneider added objectives for the defending champs, and Dylan Cozens sealed the outcome with an empty netter.

Cozens, the 19-year-old from Whitehorse, Yukon, additionally had two assists within the recreation. With 16 factors (eight objectives, eight assists), he leads the match in scoring.

Russian goaltender Yaroslav Askarov struggled to hold on to his stick at occasions and stopped 30-of-34 pictures.

Levi ties match file

Levi had 28 saves to gather his third shutout of the match, tying a file set by Canada’s Justin Pogge in 2006.

But the younger netminder is not targeted on getting his identify within the file books.

“It’s something to maybe look at after the tournament, but the job’s not done yet,” Levi mentioned.

One shot did get previous Levi on Monday.

Russia obtained on the board with lower than three minutes to go within the second interval solely to have its aim disallowed.

Canadian defenceman Justin Barron obtained tangled with Levi on a Russian energy play, stopping the goaltender from getting all the best way throughout the web in time to cease a shot from Mikhail Abramov.

The Russians celebrated however Canada rapidly challenged the decision for an offside zone entry. Upon evaluate, the officers agreed, waving off the aim.

Scoring on the chance may have modified the sport, mentioned Russia’s coach Igor Larionov.

“Nothing you can do. That’s the rule,” he mentioned.

The Russians merely did not have sufficient vitality and energy to create the odd-man rushes they wanted to topple the Canadians, Larionov mentioned.

“Team Canada played a good, solid game. They were solid defensively and very efficient offensively, too,” he mentioned.

Canada was set be taught its opponent for the gold-medal match afterward Monday. The United States was dealing with Finland within the different semifinal recreation.

WATCH | Canada, U.S.S.R. clear benches throughout 1987 world juniors:

Junior hockey groups from Canada and the Soviet Union are ejected for preventing in a world match. 1:47

There’ll be stress regardless of who the workforce performs, mentioned Canadian coach Andre Tourigny.

“There’s a lot of emotion in that tournament and you want to be in the last game,” he mentioned. “You want to be part of something special and that last game will be something special.”

Since coming collectively for choice camp method again in mid-November, Tourigny has been telling his gamers that they should be prepared for adversity.

That mindset has helped them put together for the problem of preventing for gold, he mentioned.

“The way the leaders and the player deal with adversity every time there’s adversity, that’s what’s made the difference to me,” Tourigny mentioned.

“It’s a really tough tournament, there’s still a lot of hockey to be played here. Tomorrow will be a hell of a game.”