Cheers among Canadians. © APA / AFP / GIANTS IVUSKANS

Canada is playing for the title at the Ice Hockey World Cup on Sunday with some surprising looks.

05. June 2021

The 26-time world champion won the North American sibling duel with USA in Riga on Saturday with a 4:2 (1:1, 0:1, 2:1) win and a place in the final.

With the brace, Calgary Flames NHL striker Andrew Mangiapen was the deciding player for Canada (25th minute/41st) to prevent USA’s successful run. Brandon Pirie of the Chicago Blackhawks (3rd) also took the lead early on. Justin Danforth made the decision with a hit in the blank goal 24 seconds before the end.

The final comes as a surprise, as the Canadians had a historically poor start to the World Cup with 3 losses, including 1:3 against Germany. The Canadians improved shortly thereafter, but finished only fourth in the preliminary group. With the final victory on Sunday, Canada will be tied with record world champions Russia.

The United States finished first in the preliminary group and had previously only lost against Finland in their first game. The goals of two NHL pros Colin Blackwell (18th) and Sasha Chmelevsky (44th) were too few for title chances.

Finland and Germany meet in the second semi-final. The game starts at 5.15 pm.

USA – Canada 2:4
tore: 0:1 Piri (2.02), 1:1 Blackwell (17.17), 1:2 Mangiapane (24.15), 1:3 Mangiapane (40.46), 2:3 Chmelevsky (43.36), 2:4 Danforth (59.36).

author: am / dpa