Men’s Hockey: Americans Advance to Gold Medal Game
By: Jake Reiser
In arguably the most exciting game of the World Junior Championship to date, the United States beat Russia, 4-3, in a dramatic seven-round shootout.
Boston University forward Clayton Keller had two assists and a penalty shot attempt, and Jordan Greenway had an assist. The game remained tied through a 10 minute 4-on-4 overtime and a five-round shootout, but Denver’s Troy Terry came through in the seventh-round of a sudden death shootout.
Russia got started in the scoring department, with leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov wrapping the puck past Tyler Parsons for a 1-0 lead. Late in the first, Clayton Keller shot a puck from the corner of the goal line that banked off the backside of Colin White and past Russian netminder and Capitals prospect Ilya Samsonov to even the score.
Denis Guryanov made it 2-1 Russia, but Luke Kunin tied it for the United States on a pass from Jordan Greenway moments afterwards in the second. Colin White got his second goal of the game on the power play to make it 3-2 USA, giving America its first lead of the night after 40 minutes.
With the lead in the third period, Keller got hauled down on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot by referees. However, Samsonov came up with a glove save on Keller’s backhand shot. Guryanov scored just seconds later for Russia on a breakaway to even the score at three.
Despite amazing chances in the 4-on-4 overtime period, the Semifinal went to a shootout. As per IIHF rules, it is a five-round shootout in a playoff, not a three-round shootout like it was during the round robin part of a tournament. When the USA needed a goal to stay alive, Jeremy Bracco scored.
In sudden death, Troy Terry took over when it was still even through the five mandatory rounds. Just like TJ Oshie in the 2014 Olympics, Terry kept scoring until the USA came out with the win. On the other end, USA goalie Tyler Parsons came up with a big stop in the seventh round, deflecting the shot off the post.
The United States will take on the winner of the Sweden-Canada game in the gold medal game tomorrow night.