Team Russia will now play Team Canada and Team Finland will now play Team Sweden in the semi-finals of the World Junior Hockey Championships at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Tuesday.
On Monday, Team Finland beat Team Slovakia 8-5 in a game where the goaltending was very poor. Finland, scored four unanswered goals in the second period to blow a 2-2 first period tie wide open. Mikael Granlund led the way with a goal and three assists, and his younger brother Markus, a draft pick of the Calgary Flames scored two goals and one assist.
Finland also got great production from their youngsters. Rasmus Ristolainen, a young 17 year-old defenceman was excellent on the Finnish blue line and picked up two assists. Aleksander Barkov, a 16 year-old forward, scored the game winner.
On Monday night, Russia defeated the Czech Republic in overtime in a game with brilliant goaltending at the junior level. Andrei Vasilevski made 38 saves in a 2-1 Russian overtime win. Petr Mrazek responded with 43 saves for the Czech Republic. With the score tied 1-1, and the Russians moving up ice following a Russian penalty late in the third period, Grigori Zheldakov scored on a pass from Nikita Kucherov to send Russia to the semi-finals.
Tags: 2012 world junior hockey championships, aleksander barkov, andrei vasilevski, grigori zheldakov, markus granlund, mikael granlund, nikita kucherov, petr mrazek, rasmus ristolainen
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