At the Ice Hockey World Championships in Finland, defending champion Canada was able to reach the semifinals against Sweden after a 0:3 deficit. The North Americans only equalized with two goals in the penultimate minute. Finally, the maple leaves prevailed 4:3 after extra time. The Canadians’ acclaimed overtime victory was fixed by Drake Batherson after 43 seconds after Sweden had received a penalty. While the Scandinavians missed out on the World Championship medals again a year after the sensational failure in the preliminary round in Riga, Canada is still on course towards title number 28.
Thanks to a clear 4:1 against Germany, the Czech Republic is also in the semi-finals. Germany’s hopes for a medal, aroused by a strong preliminary round, were suddenly dashed by the Czech Republic. The ex-world champion, who was defeated by Austria in the group phase, used three power plays very efficiently.
Slovakia took a 2-0 lead against hosts Finland but eventually lost 4-2. So the Finns didn’t allow any sensation. In the end, the USA clearly prevailed against Switzerland with 0:3. On Saturday, the USA meets Finland in the semi-finals (1.20 p.m.). Canada is dealing with the Czech Republic (5:20 p.m.).
