Ticket punched
Canada to play for gold after downing Russia 5-0 in semifinals
EDMONTON
One image served as goalie Devon Levi’s driving force as he and the other Canadian players waited out quarantine in their hotel rooms — playing for gold at the world junior hockey championship.
Now the image is coming into focus.
After beating Russia 5-0 in semifinal action on Monday, Canada will look to defend its title on Tuesday.
“The picture of (playing for gold) has been probably our driving force since we got here,”
Levi said on a video call after Monday’s win. “We’ve put in a lot to this. It’s a great feeling that we’re here and that we got here. But the job’s not done yet.”
The tilt between Canada and Russia on Monday was a rematch of last year’s gold-medal game, which saw the Canadians claw their way back from a deficit for a dramatic 4-3 win.
The tension was lower this year, however, with Canada dominating the Russians from the start.
Alex Newhook returned from injury to put the host country on the board just 59 seconds into the game.
There were fears that the Colorado Avalanche prospect from Corner Brook, N.L., would not return to the tournament after suffering an upper-body injury in Canada’s final preliminary-round game against Finland on New Year’s Eve.
He missed Saturday’s quarterfinal game against the Czech Republic but looked healthy on Monday when he scored his third goal of the tournament on his first shift of the game.
Newhook’s shot hit the back bar of the Russian net and popped back out before anyone registered the goal. Play continued until the goal horn was sounded and officials reviewed the video as Newhook’s teammates congratulated him on the bench.
“I had no idea. I thought it was straight crossbar and out,” Newhook said. “But seeing the video after was a good feeling, for sure.”
Connor McMichael, Cole Perfetti and Braden Schneider added goals for the defending champs, and Dylan Cozens sealed the result with an empty netter.