Canada To Face Russia In Hlinka Gretzky Cup Final

Medal Round

Canada 3 Sweden 2

Team Canada advanced to the final with a dramatic shootout victory over Sweden. Perfetti scored both the regulation goals and three times in the shootout to nail down the victory for Canada. He was the only Canadian player to get a puck behind Swedish netminder Jesper Wallstedt. Wallstedt will be one of the top goaltenders for the 2021 NHL draft. Perfetti now has eight goals and 12 points for the tournament, which is tops in both categories. Canada will face Russia for the gold medal Saturday at 11 am EDT. Sweden will face Finland in what proves to be another bitter rivalry between those teams to see who will take home the bronze medal.

Russia 4 Finland 1

Russia scored three times in the final 8:31 to break open a tight contest. Pashin notched the hat trick to launch his club into the gold medal game. Yaroslav Askarov, one of the top goaltender prospects to come along in years, was once again solid between the pipes. Askarov is available for the 2020 NHL draft.

Placement Games

Czech Republic 4 USA 3

Pavel Novak scored a powerplay goal at 6:58 of the overtime period to secure a fifth-place finish for the Czech Republic. The Americans had tied the game with 2:25 to go when defenseman Noah Ellis found the back of the net. His shot from long range beat a partially screened Jan Bednar to force overtime. Team USA ends up finishing sixth in the tournament.

Slovakia 7 Switzerland 5

The Slovaks, who were co-hosting the Hlinka Gretzky Cup managed to pick up their lone victory of the tournament. Matej Kaslik and Olekseii Myklukha managed a pair of goals each in the high scoring affair. Slovakia winds up finishing seventh while Switzerland takes the eighth spot.