World Junior Hockey Championship 2017 Results: Saturday Scores and Reaction

Saturday marked the final day of pool play in the 2017 World Junior Hockey Championship, which is being held in Toronto and Montreal. The slate featured the highly anticipated encounter between championship contenders and rivals Canada and the United States.

All eight teams advancing to the quarterfinals were already decided before the group finales, with Finland and Latvia being dropped into the relegation round. In turn, Saturday's contests were to decide position for the knockout rounds starting Monday.

Let's check out the complete list of information for the New Year's Eve games, which will get updated following the conclusion of each matchup and supplemented with a recap of the action.

Saturday Schedule

Game No.	Group	Matchup	Result
17	A	Sweden vs. Czech Republic	5-2 SWE
18	B	United States vs. Canada	3-1 USA
19	A	Finland vs. Switzerland	2-0 FIN
20	B	Russia vs. Slovakia	2-0 RUS

Russia 2, Slovakia 0

Russia ended the group phase of the World Junior Hockey Championship with a strong 2-0 shutout win over Slovakia. 

Russian goalie Ilya Samsonov was the star of the show in this victory, stopping 16 shots to earn the team's first shutout win of the tournament. He was named player of the game for his team thanks to his effort. 

Samsonov, who was a first-round pick by the Washington Capitals in 2015, has spent the previous two seasons with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. He won't need a lot more development time before taking over the NHL. 

After a slow start on offense, Russia's sticks finally woke up midway through the second period when Denis Guryanov found the back of the net, with TSN offering the highlight video:

Yakov Trenin put the nail in Slovakia's coffin thanks to a no-look assist from Kirill Urakov for a 2-0 edge with just over 10 minutes remaining in the third period.

Russia ended round-robin group play with a 2-2 record, good enough to advance to the semifinal. It has a date with Denmark on Monday as it looks to medal for the seventh straight tournament. 

Slovakia will limp into the quarterfinal after posting a 1-3 record in group play. Things will only get more difficult from here, with undefeated Sweden waiting in the wings. 

Finland 2, Switzerland 0

Finland was able to salvage a disappointing tournament run with a 2-0 victory over Switzerland, earning its only victory in Group A. 

Things got so bad for Finland that head coach Jukka Rautakorpi got fired on Friday, with Jussi Ahokas taking over for Saturday's game against Switzerland. At least the team was able to put aside all of its chaos to get a win and build some momentum heading into a relegation series against Latvia.

This was an aggressive, attacking Finland team that outshot Switzerland 51-17. Aapeli Rasanen got the scoring started less than five minutes into the second period on a terrific rebound shot that snuck past Switzerland goalie Joren Van Pottelberghe, with TSN offering video:

Rasanen was a sixth-round pick by the Edmonton Oilers in June. The 18-year-old has three points so far in the world junior championship and continues to rise up the ranks as an NHL prospect. 

Eeli Tolvanen was the offensive standout for Finland, as he scored the team's second goal and added an assist in the win. 

As a result of this loss, Switzerland lost ground in seeding for the quarterfinals and will face the undefeated United States team. 

Per WorldJunior2017.com, things don't bode well for Switzerland advancing as it owns a record against the U.S. of "zero wins, two ties and 20 losses." It's not an ideal spot for the team, though the law of averages would say at some point things will go in its favor. 

Saturday's result against a struggling Finland team isn't going to inspire much confidence for Switzerland moving forward. 

Sweden 5, Czech Republic 2

Buffalo Sabres prospect Rasmus Asplund scored 37 seconds in as Sweden, which had already locked up the top seed in Group A, cruised to a 5-2 victory over the Czech Republic.

The Junior Crowns found the net three times in the first period to virtually put the game out of reach with 40 minutes to play. Jonathan Dahlen of the Ottawa Senators organization led the charge with a goal in each period for a hat trick. Arizona Coyotes asset Jens Looke also scored.

The tournament passed along postgame comments from Dahlen about his memorable effort:

Alexander Nylander, another Sabres prospect, tallied a pair of assists to take over the tournament scoring lead with nine points (four goals and five assists) through four games.

On the flip side, Philadelphia Flyers 2015 draft pick David Kase finally got the Czech Republic on the scoreboard with just under seven minutes remaining. Detroit Red Wings prospect and Czech captain Filip Hronek added a late goal to make the final score look closer than the game actually was.

The result means the Czech Republic will finish either third or fourth in Group A, depending on Switzerland's result against Finland. Regardless, the Czechs will be forced to face off with the United States or Canada in the quarterfinals.

Sweden will likely spend its evening quietly rooting for Russia against Slovakia in order to avoid a high-profile collision to begin the knockout rounds. A Russian loss would result in a road to the title that would probably include the Russians, Americans and Canadians—a tough road to sled.   

United States 3, Canada 1

The United States earned the top spot in Group B with an impressive 3-1 victory over Canada in the most hyped game of the preliminary round.

Senators prospect Colin White opened the scoring less than five minutes in for the Americans, who finished pool play with an unblemished record. Jordan Greenway of the Minnesota Wild system and Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick Jeremy Bracco also scored for Team USA.

Another Senators asset, Thomas Chabot, scored Canada's only goal of the contest. United States goaltender Joseph Woll was otherwise up to the task against the talent-laden Canadian forward group, turning away 25 of 26 shots sent his way.

Mike Eruzione, captain of the United States' 1980 Olympic gold medalists, passed along his thoughts about the victory:

Looking ahead, it wouldn't be the least bit surprising if there's a rematch between these two teams for the championship on Jan. 5. Sweden has looked like the only group with a realistic opportunity to play the role of spoiler, but it benefited from a much easier group.

Canada came into the tournament with a lot of pressure after missing out on the medal round last year, as well as high expectations playing on home soil. Saturday's convincing result moves the United States into the role of favorite for the knockout rounds, though.