The preliminary round is over and the stage has been set. The top eight teams will advance to the quarterfinals to be played on Thursday, May 19. Group A’s (1) Czech Republic, (2) Russia, (3) Sweden and (4) Denmark move on, as do Group B’s (1) Finland, (2) Canada, (3) Germany and (4) USA.
Finland, the only team to win all seven of its games in regulation, outscored its opponents 29-6 and allowed a tournament-low six goals. Canada tallied 34 goals-the most in the tournament thus far.
The quarterfinal matchups:
Czech Republic (1A) will play USA (4B)… 9:15 a.m. EST (played in Moscow) This game will be shown live on NBCSN and NBCSN Live Extra.
Russia (2A) will play Germany (3B)
Finland (1B) will play Denmark (4A)
Canada (2B) will play Sweden (3A)… 1:15 p.m. EST (played in St. Petersburg)
The semifinals will be held Saturday, May 21. The winner of 1A-4B will play the winner of 2B-3A, while the winner of 1B-4A will play the winner of 2A-3B. Both semi-final games and the medal games will be played in Moscow.
The winning teams of the semifinal games advance to the gold medal game while the semi-final losing teams play for bronze. Both the Bronze and Gold Medal games will be played Sunday, May 22.
SABRES SPOTLIGHT:
The five Sabres participating in the tournament have all found their way on the scoresheet.
Ryan O’Reilly is a +5 with two goals and four assists. He had two shots in 16:46 of ice time against Finland. Sam Reinhart is a +2 with two assists for Team Canada. He skated only six shifts, totaling 5:51 of ice time in the 4-0 loss to Finland.
Jake McCabe has a goal and an assist. He logged 20:49 of ice time against Slovakia; Hudson Fasching has one assist for Team USA. Fasching played 13:31 and had a game-high four shots on goal against Slovakia.
Zemgus Girgensons scored one goal and led Team Latvia with 21 shots for the preliminary games. He skated 20:55 in a 3-1 loss to Norway.