How did Leafs prospects fare during Day 9 of the WJC?

After giving up 2 quick goals in the first period, Canada made a goaltending switch that was followed by instant success.  Sweden eventually lost the game by a score of 5-2, as the semifinal matchup marked the end of Sweden’s undefeated streak through 5 games at the 2017 WJC.  

Jeremy Bracco came up big for the Americans today, tallying an assist and scoring a shootout goal in the 5th round that ultimately kept the USA alive in the game.  Carl Grundstrom scored early in the first for Sweden, but had a fairly quiet game after.  Both players will need to come up big tomorrow, as each of their respective teams will be trying to capture a medal.   

Here are the highlights from this crazy semifinal matchup:

Jeremy Bracco was absolutely fantastic for the USA today.  Coming up big in both regulation play and in the shootout, Bracco surpassed expectations and helped lead his team to a huge win against the Russians.  Here is Bracco’s assist on the USA’s tying goal (left side of the gif, passes it off to Greenway on the right):

And here’s Bracco’s goal in the 5th round of the shootout:

Though Bracco wasn’t one of the names mentioned amongst the USA’s top 3 players, he certainly deserves recognition for his play throughout the tournament.  He has flashes of brilliance at times, though he’s barely noticeable on the ice at others.  In all honesty, I don’t expect his play to be 100% consistent in every game. Bracco is an incredible talent, and I don’t doubt that he will be able to come up big for the USA yet again tomorrow.

Here are the highlights from Canada’s 5-2 win over Sweden:

Carl Grundstrom had Sweden’s second goal of the game – the goal that eventually forced a change in net by the Canadians.   Here’s a gif of Grundstrom’s goal:

Grundstrom finishes the play off a sweet pass from Alex Nylander, giving Sweden the 2-1 lead early in the game. Grundstrom took a useless penalty late in the first period, cross-checking a Canadian player after the whistle. That penalty brought Sweden off the powerplay, and 9 seconds later, Anthony Cirelli scored Canada’s second goal of the game.  

Grundstrom, as well as most of the Swedish team, were quiet after the first period.  Canada did a fantastic job shutting them down and putting on offensive pressure, and Sweden was unable to counter-attack.

Tomorrow is the big day.  At 3:30 EST, Sweden will take on Russia in the bronze medal game in Montreal. Sweden has finished within the tournament’s top-4 every year since 2007, but don’t have a very good record in either the gold or bronze medal games.  Sweden has gone 2-8 in games where a medal was on the line, over the past 10 years.  In comparison, Russia has finished within the tournament’s top-4 9 times in the past 10 years, posting a 5-4 record in medal round games.  In bronze medal games specifically, they have gone 4-0, achieving 3rd place in 2014, 2013, 2009 and 2008.  

The USA will face off against Canada at 8:00 EST tomorrow night.  The USA was victorious over Canada in the preliminary round, beating the Canadians by a score of 3-1 on New Years Eve.  Canada has finished within the tournament’s top-4 on 7 occasions through 10 years, and have a 5-2 record in medal round games since 2007.  The USA has a very similar record to Canada, posting a 5-1 record through 6 medal round games since 2007.  

Day 1 Leafs Prospect Update 

Day 2 Leafs Prospect Update