Three Buffalo Sabres prospects will have the chance to play for a medal at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton after their teams advanced to the semifinal round on Saturday.
Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn are both moving on with Team Canada after they did their part to help shut out the Czech Republic, 3-0.
Cozens was able to open the scoring for the Canadians just 8:22 into the game as he slipped in behind the defense and went in for a breakaway on Czech goalie Nick Malík (2021 NHL Draft). His original shot appeared to be stopped by Malík with the glove hand, but the puck ended up squeaking through and into the back of the net.
A little over three minutes later, Cozens picked up his second point of the night as he registered the secondary assist on a nice goal from defenseman Bowen Byram (Colorado Avalanche), as he patiently waited for his opportunity to shoot, and his chance just trickled through Malík and in.
The Czechs managed to play a decent game against the Canadians for most of the way, but any chance they could muster was turned away by Canadian goalie Devon Levi (Florida Panthers), who stopped all 29 shots he faced on the night.
With more than five minutes remaining in the game, the Czechs went into full desperation mode as they pulled Malík for an extra attacker. However, the Canadians sealed their victory with an empty-net goal from Connor McMichael (Washington Capitals) to punch their ticket to the semifinals.
Cozens was, once again, one of the best players on the ice for Canada in the win. The 2019 first round pick (seventh overall) finished the game with his goal and assist, while also registering three shots on goal, a plus-2 rating, and playing 17:05 of total ice-time.
As for Quinn, he had a relatively quiet night with just one shot on goal in 14:14 of total ice-time. The 2020 first round pick (eighth overall) was playing on Canada's third line with center Quinton Byfield (Los Angeles Kings) and right winger Jakob Pelletier (Calgary Flames).
The Canadians will be the first game of the semifinal round on Monday as they will face Russia in a rematch of gold medal game at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic. Puck drop in Edmonton is set for 6 p.m. EST.
As for Ryan Johnson and the United States, they are moving on at the World Juniors after a 5-2 win over Slovakia in the late game of the quarterfinal round.
Johnson finished his night with an assist on John Farinacci's (Arizona Coyotes) second period goal to put the U.S. up 2-0 at the time. With a touch over eight minutes remaining in the frame, Johnson got the puck at the blue line and fired it through a screen of bodies in front of the Slovakian net. His shot ended up re-directing off the leg of Farinacci in the crowd and finding its way past goalie Simon Latkoczy.
Overall on the night, the 2019 first round pick (31st overall) had his one assist, while also registering a plus-1 rating in 17:16 of total ice-time.
Farinacci ended up being named the Player of the Game for the United States in the win as he would score another goal in the third period to help the Americans extend their lead to 4-2. Also scoring for the U.S. on the night included Arthur Kaliyev (Kings), Cole Caufield (Montreal Canadiens) and Matthew Beniers (2021 NHL Draft).
The U.S. are on to their first semifinal round at the IIHF World Junior Championship since the 2019 tournament, where they will face Finland after they came back to knock off Sweden late in the third period of their quarterfinal round game.
The last time the U.S. and Finland met was the 2020 tournament in the Czech Republic, where the Finns scored a power play goal early in the third period to take a 1-0 lead, and that was all they needed to knock the Americans out of the quarterfinals.
Finland has won the last two meetings between the two nations, also beating the U.S. in 2019 in the gold medal game to claim their third gold medal at the World Juniors since 2014.
The U.S. and Finland will be the late game of the semifinal round on Monday night, with puck drop taking place at 9:30 p.m. EST.
The one Sabres prospect who's tournament came to an end on Saturday was J-J Peterka after Germany nearly came away with a stunning upset win over Russia in the opening game of the quarterfinal round.
After the Russians got out to a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes of play, Germany made things interesting just 3:24 into the third period when Florian Elias (undrafted) ripped a shot past Russian goalie Yaroslav Askarov (Nashville Predators) to cut the German deficit to one.
However, that was as close as Germany could get to forcing the game to overtime, despite putting up a good amount of quality shots on goal in the final 20 minutes.
Peterka had a couple of quality chances to tie the game late, including with nearly 14 minutes left in regulation as he got away for a partial breakaway. However, he was defended nicely and only was able to get a weak backhander on Askarov that was turned aside. Later in the period, Peterka was able to get a shot towards the goal that was re-directed along the way, but ended up ringing off the crossbar.
He ended the game with four shots on goal, while also registering a minus-1 rating, and two penalty minutes in a game-high 25:24 of total ice-time.
In his five games at the 2021 World Juniors, the 2020 second round pick (34th overall) finished with four goals and six assists for 10 points, which has him still tied for third in scoring for the tournament with teammate Tim Stuetzle (Ottawa Senators). Peterka also finished the tournament with 20 shots on goal, a minus-5 rating, and an average of 25:30 of ice-time per-game.
Despite being one of, if not, the best players for Germany in the 2021 tournament, Peterka was not named one of the Top-Three Players of the team following Saturday's loss.
Following Sunday's training camp practice, Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger said that Peterka will now return back to Germany and play for Red Bull Munich in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The team feels that would be the best way for him to continue on with his development, however, there is a chance that Peterka could join the Sabres after his season in Munich is over.
Both semifinal games for the World Juniors will be televised in the United States on NHL Network.