Finns Can’t Finnish as Americans Eke Out 5-4 victory

A pair of goals in the first gave USA an important 2-0 lead. At 3;59 in the first, Boston Bruins prospect Trent Frederic scored his first goal of the tournament after his shot tipped off the bottom of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's glove, giving the Americans an early lead.

Just over 10 minutes later, USA's top offensive duo proved why they're so highly regarded. Buffalo Sabres prospect Casey Mittelstadt would finish off a great give-and-go feed between him and 2018 NHL Draft prospect Brady Tkachuk, with Mittelstadt finishing off the second pass with a goal past a sprawled Lukkonen.

USA's third goal of the game really started to take the steam out of Finland's game. At 6:56 in the second, a bit of solid digging by Tkachuk saw the puck end on the stick by Joey Anderson. Anderson had no issue one-timing it in the back of the net, giving the United States the 3-0 lead.

Finland was having issues getting quality scoring chances in the game, but it's hard to bet an Aapeli Rasanen wrist shot. One of Finland's best players in the tournament, Rasanen sent a laser beam of a shot top corner over Joseph Woll, giving Finland a bit of hope.

Eeli Tolvanen is one of the best prospects in hockey, but with zero goals in three previous games, he wasn't doing a great job of showing it. At 38:44 on the power play, the Nashville Predators draft pick was finally able to get the monkey off his back after sending a snipe over Woll, ending a good streak in the net for the American goaltender.

But just over 30 seconds later, the Americans regained their two-goal lead. Anderson got his second of the night when he skated in from the corner all alone before grabbing the rebound, spinning and knocking the puck past Luukkonen, giving USA the 4-2 lead.

A shorthanded game with 11:35 left in the game made the entire contest even more interesting. Joona Koppanen used his quick speed to blast into the zone before hesitating on whether or not he wanted to make a pass. The Boston Bruins prospect made no mistake with his wrist shot to the right of Woll, giving Finland a chance late.

In fact, they'd tie it shortly after. Just as both teams were back to even strength, Kristian Vesalainen managed to move his way around three American defenders in front, sending one between Woll's legs for the 4-4 goal, putting the game into overdrive.

The game looked like it would need extra time, but with 1:37 to go, the Americans took back their lead. This time, Mittelstadt would find defenceman Adam Fox, who exploded on the rush and blasted in all alone. Fox did a great job of making a quick move to sneak it through Luukkonen's five-hole, putting the Americans back out front for good this time.

USA will need to wait until later today to figure out who they'll face. If Russia fails to beat Sweden in regulation, they'll face Russia. If Russia beats Sweden by 1-3 goals in regulation, they'll play the Czechs, and if they score more than that, USA will play Sweden.

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Photo from Anders Marshall/Euro Hockey