Canada, who had qualified for the quarter-finals, surprised Russia 2-1 after overtime on Thursday evening. Because Finland beat the Czech Republic 1–0, the Northern Europeans would again be the opponents of the DEB team.
Decision: Andrew Mangiapen (right) scored 2-1 against Russia in overtime for Canada.
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The German national team will play its first World Cup semi-final in eleven years against defending champions Finland in Riga on Saturday. It is all decided after the conclusion of the quarter finals. The Finns advanced into the top four of the Germans on Thursday evening thanks to a 1-0 win against the Czech Republic. Jere Inala (33.) scored the only goal of the game.
All Group A teams are already out
Somewhat unexpectedly, Canada will play the second semi-final against the United States. Oddly, all the semi-finalists come from German Group B, whose four quarter-finalists each beat four from Group A.
Following their historically weak start to the World Cup, Canada’s players surprisingly advanced to the semi-finals, thanks to a 2–1 victory against record world champions Russia after extra time in a duel between the top nations. Calgary Flames’ Andrew Mangiapen scored the deciding goal in overtime in the 63rd minute and the Russians were disappointed. Evgeny Timkin gave Russia the lead (36th) at the start, but Adam Heinrich equalized early in the final section (46th).
With three losses in the first three preliminary round games, including a 1:3 against DEB selection, 26-time world champion Canada was as weak in a tournament as ever.
USA easily beat Slovakia
The United States remained in the medal race with a 6–1 win against Slovakia. Colin Blackwell (16th, 37th) of the New York Rangers and Conor Garland (20th, 59th) of the Arizona Coyotes scored two goals each. Last tournament’s top scorer Peter Sehlrich (33.) scored a consolation goal for the Slovak. The United States will take on Canada in a North American Brothers Duel on Saturday.
