2019 Men’s World Championship: Recapping the Playoff Round Matchups

The playoff round for the 2019 Men’s World Championship has concluded, and we finally have our gold medal matchup set between Canada and Finland. After an impressive run by Russia, they were knocked back to the bronze medal game after being shutout by Finland in the semifinal round.

The New York Rangers sent six players to the World Championship, and after the dust has settled, only Alexandar Georgiev and Filip Chytil will have a chance at a medal.

Quarterfinals

Canada vs Switzerland

The first matchup of the quarterfinals certainly set the stage with Canada and Switzerland going right down to the wire. With Canada facing elimination late in the third period, Damon Severson’s prayer shot found a hole through traffic and slipped through goaltender Leonardo Genoni. The goal went to review to determine if the puck crossed the goal line before time expired, and following a lengthy review, the goal was confirmed.

The game would head to a 10 minute 3-on-3 overtime period, where Mark Stone made quick work of Switzerland. Just past the five minute mark of extra time, Pierre-Luc Dubois setup Mark Stone with a beautiful cross-ice pass, and Stone sent Switzerland home empty handed.

Russia vs United States

The United States were tasked with a tough matchup in the quarterfinals as they faced off against an insanely stacked Russian team. Early in this game, the United States found themselves down early with goals coming from Nikita Gusev and Mikhail Sergachev. Brady Skjei brought the Americans back within a goal in the second period, which made for a very crucial third period.

The two countries traded goals in the third period and Alex DeBrincat scored with under three minutes remaining to make it a one-goal game.  The Americans were unable to find the tying goal late in the third period, and were eliminated from the tournament early in the quarterfinals

Finland vs Sweden

The most intriguing matchup of this round saw Kaapo Kakko going head-to-head with Henrik Lundqvist and Sweden. Much like Canada and Switzerland, this game right down to the wire and had to be decided in overtime. There were plenty of scoring chances at both ends of the rink, and after a flurry of goals, Sweden led 4-3 heading into the third period.

However, Finland continued to pressure Sweden and Marko Anttila jumped on a loose puck to tie the game with under two minutes remaining in regulation. Henrik Lundqvist made two huge saves just prior to the goal, but Sweden was unable to clear his crease to prevent the goal against. It didn’t take long for Finland to build off of the tying goal as Sakari Manninen broke in on a 3-on-1 rush in overtime, and sniped the game winning goal past Henrik Lundqvist.

Czech Republic vs Germany

The final game of the afternoon saw the Czech Republic completely dominating Germany with a final score of 5-1. This game was tied 1-1 heading into the third period before the Czech’s took over the third period with four unanswered goals.

Jakub Voracek finally broke the scoreless tie early in the third period after he jumped on his own rebound in the crease, and made it a 2-1 game. Dominik Kubalik widened the lead for the Czech Republic a short time later with a booming slap shot, and the Czech’s never looked back.

Semifinals

Russia vs Finland

After taking out the United States in the previous round, the Russians looked to build on their momentum as they faced off against Finland. For the fourth time in the playoff round, one goal separated the two teams from moving on or going home. After two scoreless periods, Finland finally broke the tie midway through the third period.

Marko Anttila, who tied the game late against Sweden, played hero yet again and gave Finland the 1-0 lead. From that point on, Finland was able to lock it down defensively and for the first time in the tournament, they were able to keep Russia off of the scoreboard completely.

Canada vs Czech Republic

With Finland already advancing to the gold medal game earlier in the afternoon, Canada and the Czech Republic battled it out for their chance to move on. Unfortunately for the Czech Republic, Canada was just too much to handle and they found themselves down 3-0 through 40 minutes of play.

Anthony Mantha and Kyle Turris connected on a beautiful passing play early in the third period, and gave Canada a commanding 4-0 lead. Tomas Zohorna broke the shutout bid for Matt Murray with six minutes remaining in the game, but Canada advanced with a 5-1 victory.

Medal Games

The medal games will kick off tomorrow morning with Russia and the Czech Republic facing off in the bronze medal game, before Canada and Finland go for gold at 2:00 PM EDT. The schedule for the medal games can be found below.

• Bronze Medal Game - Russia vs Czech Republic - Sun, May 26 at 9:30 AM - NHL Network
• Gold Medal Game - Canada vs Finland - Sun, May 26 at 2:00 PM - NHL Network/

** All times listed above are in Eastern Standard Time (EDT)