Canada Advances to Semifinals at World Ice Hockey Championship

FRIBORG, Switzerland – In an intense matchup, Macklin Celebrini found the net once more, while Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of the tournament. Jett Greaves turned away 34 shots, leading Canada to a 4-0 victory over the United States. This win in the quarterfinals of the World Ice Hockey Championship marked a rematch of the Olympic final, where the U.S. had previously triumphed.

The fierce competition saw Canada’s victory put an end to the Americans’ hopes of defending their title, a championship they had won for the first time since 1933.

This clash came about three months after the Olympic gold medal game in Milan-Cortina, which the U.S. won 2-1 in overtime.

With this win, Canada is now on course to secure its 29th world championship title and will next face Finland in the semifinals.

Celebrini netted his sixth goal of the tournament, while Crosby, along with Dylan Holloway and Connor Brown, added to the score. Mark Scheifele contributed with two assists, and Greaves was rock solid in goal, stopping everything thrown his way.

“He was calm and came up with big saves tonight when we needed them,” said forward John Tavares regarding Greaves. “He was definitely the best player on the ice tonight.”

Celebrini broke the scoreless tie just 1:29 before the end of the first period with a power-play shot from the slot, finding the back of the net past U.S. goaltender Devin Cooley.

Earlier in the game, Canada had squandered a five-minute major penalty from Ryan Lindgren’s illegal check against Evan Bouchard.

Holloway extended the lead midway through the game by capitalizing on a rebound of his own shot from the right circle.

As the game wound down, the Americans pulled their goalie with 2:22 left in the third, allowing Brown and Crosby to seal the deal with empty-net goals.

In their most recent encounter at the 2021 World Championships, Canada also proved victorious, winning the gold medal match 4-2 in the semifinals, with the U.S. taking home bronze.

Matthew Tkachuk, who had a chance to join the elite Triple Gold Club for Americans, expressed disappointment after the loss, acknowledging Canada’s better performance. “In the third period, we played really, really well, and their goalie made some great saves,” he noted. “In the end, they deserved to win because they were the better team for most of the game.”

Canada’s robust squad, captained by 19-year-old Celebrini, boasts experienced players like Tavares and Ryan O’Reilly. The team finished the qualifying stage with an impressive seven wins.

The American team, notably younger and less seasoned, had only advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Austria 4-1 in their final group stage game.

Finland, Switzerland, and Norway Progress

Meanwhile, in Zurich, Finland outperformed the Czech Republic with a score of 4-1, setting up a semifinal clash with Canada. Finland took an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Sakari Manninen and Anton Lundell. Konsta Helenius extended their lead to 3-0 before Filip Hronek scored for the Czechs during a two-man advantage.

Switzerland also triumphed, coming back to beat Sweden 3-1 in front of a filled SwissLife Arena, where tennis legend Roger Federer was in attendance. Roman Josi ignited the comeback, scoring a goal and assisting on two others by Dennis Malgin and Calvin Turkauf.

Switzerland will take on Norway next, who defeated Latvia 2-0, marking their first advance to the semifinals.

The semifinals are set to take place on Saturday.