World Junior Hockey Championship 2019 Results: Semifinal Scores and Reaction

After a week of intense competition, Friday marked the biggest day of the 2019 World Junior Hockey Championship with two semifinal games on the schedule to determine which countries will play for the title. 

This year's final four in Vancouver, British Columbia, features the United States, Russia, Finland and Switzerland. The U.S. is the only repeat team from the last group of teams in 2018, with Russia looking to finish in the top three for the first time in two years.

Finland is seeking its first title since 2016. Switzerland is guaranteed to finish in the top four for the first time in nine years. 

Here are the results from Friday's semifinal games and a look at the championship schedule. 

2019 World Junior Hockey Championship Semifinal Scores

United States def. Russia 2-1

Finland def. Switzerland 6-1

2019 World Junior Hockey Championship Schedule (Saturday, Jan. 5)

Third-place game: Russia vs. Switzerland (4 p.m. ET)

Championship game: United States vs. Finland (8 p.m. ET)

Finland beats Switzerland 6-1

Finland wasted no time asserting its dominance over Switzerland, cruising to a 6-1 victory and securing a spot in Saturday's championship game against the United States. 

It took fewer than eight minutes into the first period for Finland to take a 4-0 lead. Jesse Ylonen kicked off the scoring barrage just 40 seconds after the opening faceoff. 

On a night with many offensive standouts for Finland, Aleksi Heponiemi was at the top with four points on one goal and three assists. Rasmus Kapuri was right on his heels with three points. Aarne Talvitie scored two goals in the span of three minutes in the opening period. 

Finland had a 33-17 shot advantage over Switzerland. This was a stunning turn of events for Switzerland goalie Luca Hollenstein, who had a 41-save shutout against Sweden in the quarterfinals. He got pulled Friday night after allowing four goals on eight shots. 

After a big win in the semifinal, Finland gets its chance at revenge against Team USA on the biggest stage possible.

The United States won the previous game between these two countries 4-1 in the final day of Group B action on Dec. 31. Finland was able to keep the score close for the first 30 minutes until Tyler Madden and Ryan Poehling blew it open with two goals in the span of five minutes. 

A different result Saturday will give Finland its third title since 2014 and fifth overall. 

United States beats Russia 2-1

Team USA used a strong defensive effort and two early goals from Oliver Wahlstrom and Alexander Chmelevski to keep Russia at bay in the first semifinal matchup. 

Wahlstrom got the United States on the board with 5:31 remaining in the first period after a lackluster attempt by the Russians to clear the puck out of their zone. Dylan Samberg swiped the puck and passed it ahead to Logan Cockerill, who set up his fellow New York Islanders prospect for the goal. 

After Chmelevski gave the U.S. squad a 2-0 advantage five minutes into the second period. Goalie Cayden Primeau and the American defense made the lead hold up, though Russia was able to make things interesting on Grigori Denisenko's goal late in the second period. 

Primeau finished with 34 saves, but Phil Kemp had the biggest stop of the day. The defenseman knocked the potential game-tying goal away from the net after it squeaked past Primeau to preserve the United States' lead. 

This game did nothing to quiet the expectations for Primeau, who has emerged as a star prospect after being a seventh-round pick by the Montreal Canadiens in 2017. 

“We might have another Tom Brady on our hands," Canadiens assistant general manager Trevor Timmins told Eric Engels of Sportsnet last April. 

While the Canadiens are dreaming of what could be with Primeau when he arrives in the NHL, Larry Fisher of the Kelowna Courier noted Team USA's success this year could set them up to be dangerous next year:

Before worrying about what could be in 2020, USA head coach Mike Hastings has his team one win away from capturing their second World Junior Hockey title in three years.