In tomorrow’s men semifinal games, Canada takes on Finland at 10:40 a.m. ET, and the US faces Slovakia at 3:10 p.m. ET. This comes after yesterday’s quarterfinal matches, three of which took an overtime period to settle.
The only game ending in regulation yesterday was Slovakia’s convincing 6-2 win over Germany. Leading the offensive charge for the Slovaks was Dalibor Dvorsky (STL) with a goal and assist. Also, Juraj Slafkovsky (MTL) registered an assist. These players have been the offensive leaders for Slovakia; Slafkovsky is the tournament’s fifth-leading with 7 points (3G 4A), while Dvorsky is tied for 9th with 6 points (3G 3A).
Slovakia’s opponent will be Team USA, which defeated Sweden 2-1 in overtime. The OT hero of that game was Quinn Hughes (MIN), who scored 3:27 into the extra session to overcome a late third period goal by Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad (NYR). Like Dvorsky, Hughes also has 6 tournament points (1G 5A).
Team Canada and Team Finland also needed an overtime to advance. Canada’s 4-3 win took a Nick Suzuki (MTL) goal with 3:33 left in the third period to tie the game, then a Mitch Marner (VGK) tally just 1:22 into OT to win it. Finland needed two late third period goals to force overtime against Switzerland, and an Artturi Lehkonen (COL) OT goal to get the 3-2 win. Both Marner and Lehkonen have 5 tournament points, Marner having one goal and Lehkonen two.