USA to play for gold at World Juniors

The United States will look to win gold for their second straight trip to Canada, beating Russia by a score of 2-1 to advance to the finals of the 2019 World Juniors.

The Americans will meet up with the winner of the semifinal between Finland and Switzerland at 8:00 PM on Saturday, with USA looking for their fifth gold medal and fourth in the past decade. Russia will play the loser of the second semifinal at 4:00 PM in the bronze medal match.

The Russians thought they struck first early in the game, only to end the period down a goal. Dmitri Samorukov would blast the puck from the point, with the intention of getting the puck to Nikita Shashkov. The puck would go off the skate of Shashkov and in, with the referees electing to review the goal. The goal would be waved off after a short review after it was determined that Shashkov intentionally deflected the puck in with his foot, a new rule for the IIHF this season.

The Americans would answer back by scoring twice. At 14:29, Logan Cockerill would do a good job of beating Ilya Morozov on the rush before finding Oliver Wahlstrom in the slot. Wahlstrom doesn't miss opportunities like that often and wouldn't on that chance, beating Pyotr Kochetkov to make it 1-0.

Then, at 24:20 on the power play, the Americans would double their advantage. This time, a passing play on the power play would see Jack Hughes find a lane in front of the net, giving it to Alexander Chmelevski, who scored five-hole on Kochetkov to make it 2-0. But Russia would tie it up at 33:36. This time, Grigori Denisenko would score his fourth goal of the tournament after taking the puck from his own zone down the ice, beating Cayden Primeau high glove side after Dylan Samberg played a more conservative defensive role on the play. Russia couldn't convert the goal into more momentum, however, as Primeau stood tall in a 34-save effort to give the Americans the win.

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