Canada 4 Sweden 3
EDMONTON — Josh Williams and Alexis Lafreniere each had a goal and an assist as Canada defeated Sweden 4-3 to close out the round robin portion of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup under-18 hockey tournament on Wednesday.
Matthew Robertson and Kirby Dach also scored for Canada.
Lucas Raymond, Alexander Holtz and Elmer Soderblom responded for Sweden.
Canada finished first in its pool with a record of 3-0, while Sweden was 2-1.
The Canadians will face the United States in Friday’s semifinals, while Sweden will be up against Russia.
Canada has won gold in nine of the last 10 of these U-18 tournaments.
Despite being outshot 9-1 to that point, Sweden struck first on the power play with six-and-a-half minutes to play in the first period when Raymond took a nice return pass from Holtz and deposited the puck into the net before Canadian goalie Nolan Maier (Saskatoon, WHL) could get across.
Canada evened things up two minutes later when Williams (Medicine Hat, WHL) drilled on one-timer off a feed from Ryan Suzuki (Barrie, OHL) past Swedish goaltender Jesper Wallstedt.
The shots after 20 minutes favoured Canada 12-2.
Sweden came out flying to start the second, but with seven minutes remaining in the second period, Lafreniere (Rimouski (QMJHL), the early first overall favourite for the 2020 draft, corralled a rebound off the boards and made it 2-1 for the home side.
The Swedes knotted the game back up eight minutes into the third period after a Canadian giveaway led to Holtz picking the corner on a long shot.
Canada regained the lead with 6:51 remaining when defenceman Robertson (Edmonton, WHL) came in from the point and lifted it over Wallstedt with a delayed penalty upcoming.
Sweden pulled even once again with 4:16 to play in the third when Soderblom tipped a power play point shot into the net.
Canada once again took the lead with 2:26 remaining with a responding power play goal, as Dach (Saskatoon, WHL) responded with a tip of his own to give Canada the narrow victory.
Notes: It is the first year the tournament is being co-hosted by Edmonton, which will have it every second year, with the odd years taking place in the Czech Republic… In the 27 years these U-18 championships have been held, Canada has won gold 21 times and medalled in 24… Last year’s Hlinka tournament produced 77 players who went on to go in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, including seven of the top 10.