Team Canada met their end at the hands of Alex Galchenyuk and the United States this morning in Russia. They will play the hosts for the bronze medal on Saturday morning at 4:00 a.m. EST, while Galchenyuk will meet fellow Canadiens’ prospect Sebastian Collberg, author of Team Sweden’s shootout winner against Russia, in the winner-takes-all final.

by Kathy K., Associate Editor, All Habs Hockey Magazine

MONTREAL, QC –It was the first game that Alex Galchenyuk was held off the scoresheet in the tournament, but Team USA still prevailed over the Canadians by the score of 5-1, thanks to a team effort and solid performances by captain Jake McCabe, John Gaudreau and goaltender John Gibson.  Malcolm Subban let in four of Canada’s goals while Gibson’s shutout was spoiled by a Ty Rattie shorthanded goal that gave a glimmer of hope for a Canadian comeback, but a small one that was soon dashed by Gaudreau’s second tally of the game, the final nail in the coffin.

Later on, a shootout was needed to determine the winner of the second semi-final opposing the Swedes and the Russians. The defending champions would prove to be the victors thanks to a highlight-reel goal by Canadiens’ second-rounder Sebastian Collberg that also happened to be the only goal scored in said shootout, as the Russians had stormed back from a 2-0 deficit only to watch the same fate they handed to the Swiss team just a day beforehand befall them this time around.

These scores set up a final round that will see two Canadiens’ prospects that have each had a lot to do with their respective teams’ success thus far battle it out for a gold medal. The Swedes have the pressure of a repeat on their hands, while the US has done wonders to improve their standing from last year, where they were almost relegated.

The last time these two teams faced off was in 2011 for the bronze medal. USA took it in front of a home crowd in Buffalo by the score of 4-2. Most of the action in that game took place in the third period, as the Americans broke a 1-1 tie with two goals as Sweden would only be able to respond once before Chris Kreider would seal the deal with less than two minutes remaining in the game. The two also met the year before where the States also had the upper hand, this time 5-2, on their way to a gold medal win in Saskatoon.

USA

Top Scorers:

Preliminary record: 2-2-0-0, 6 pts (3rd in Group B)
Goals scored / Goals against: 19/7 in the preliminary round, 12/1 in the playoffs.
Last medal: Bronze, 2011
Did you know: The top three scoring defensemen of this year’s tournament are all American, with 8, 7 and 6 points respectively. They make up over a quarter of Team USA’s offense.
Also: In addition to recording a whopping 244 shots on goal in six games, Team USA has the best penalty killing record in the tournament (92%). However, they are also the most penalized team, averaging about twenty minutes in the sin bin per game.

SWEDEN

Preliminary record: 4-0-0-0 (one win in OT), 11 points (1st in Group A)
Goals scored / Goals against: 19/8 in the preliminary round, 3/2 in playoffs (includes the one shootout goal).
Last medal: Gold, 2012
Did you know: While the States have the best penalty kill, the Swedes have the most efficient man advantage in the tournament. While managing to score just one goal less than their future opponents on the power play overall, their percentage is just under 37%.  Oh, and they’re not gun-shy either, with 209 shots in five games.
Also: Collberg, whose shot efficiency is 40%, is missing just one assist to duplicate his totals from last year.

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