Canada edges Sweden in U18 semis, will battle U.S. for gold

ESPOO, Finland — Ryder Ritchie and Taj Iginla both had a goal and an assist as Canada held on to edge Sweden 5-4 in semifinal action Saturday at the world under-18 men's hockey tournament.

Canada will face the United States in the final Sunday. The Americans advanced with a 7-2 semifinal win over Slovakia earlier Saturday.

Canada will chase tournament gold for the first time since 2021.

Liam Greentree, Gavin McKenna and Henry Mews had the other goals for Canada. Goalie George Carter made 31 saves as Sweden outshot the Canadians 35-26.

Canada opened the preliminary round with a 6-3 victory over Sweden. And the Canadians wasted no time taking early control Saturday, taking a 4-0 lead after the opening period.

Greentree, McKenna, Iginla and Ritchie had the first-period goals for Canada.

Canada took a 5-2 advantage into the third but was outscored 2-0 in the period. However, the Canadians successfully killed off a Sweden power play with 4:47 remaining in regulation time and clinging to the one-goal advantage.

"It was an unbelievable start for the group and we were looking to separate ourselves in the second period," said Canadian head coach Gardiner MacDougall. "George made a number of huge saves again for us and (there was a) great job by our penalty killers.

"Sometimes they say a good scare is better than a bad loss, so we’ll take the one-goal win and move on to Sunday. We faced some new situations in the third, but I thought our group was unbelievable on the bench. We had key shifts from different guys and it was about finding a way to be one goal better."

Porter Martone added two assists, giving him 22 points for a new career scoring record by a Canadian, surpassing Connor Bedard. Matthew Schaefer also registered two assists.

George wasn't bothered to see a game that Canada appeared in total control of become a one-goal contest.

"I like facing the challenge and it keeps me engaged," he said. "We did have a great first period, but we also knew they would come back at us in a do-or-die situation.

"We were ready for it and overall, I thought it was a great effort by our team."

Although a gold medal will be on the line Sunday, Schaefer said it's important for the Canadians to maintain perspective.

"It's a big game, but we can’t look at it any differently," he said. "We have to go into the game with the same game plan we’ve had all tournament.

"We have to come out and play hard for a full 60 minutes. We have a good group, we’ve faced a number of different situations and we’ll go out and try to win one more."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2024.