World Junior Hockey Championship 2021 Results: Semifinal Scores and Reaction

It'll be Canada and the United States battling for the World Junior Championship title on Tuesday night in Edmonton, Alberta.

In the first semifinal game Monday, five different skaters scored for Canada while Devon Levi backstopped them to a 5-0 shutout of Russia. In the second semifinal of the day, Arthur Kaliyev's last-chance goal lifted the U.S. to a 4-3 defeat of Finland after the Finns fought back from a 3-1 third-period deficit.

Notable Performers

• Devon Levi, GK, Canada (Northeastern/Florida Panthers): 28-save shutout vs. Russia
• Dylan Cozens, F, Canada (Buffalo Sabres): empty-net goal, two assists vs. Russia
• Arthur Kaliyev, F, USA (Los Angeles Kings): GW goal, assist vs. Finland
• Kasper Simontaival, F, Finland (Los Angeles Kings): two goals vs. USA

How the Finns Handled Trevor Zegras

Entering Monday, Trevor Zegras led all scorers with 15 points, with six goals and nine assists. While Finnish netminder Kari Piiroinen had managed just fine throughout the tournament, with a 2.01 GAA while allowing eight goals and stopping 89 shots, his teammates would need to step up to prevent Zegras from encroaching on the net.

They managed in the first period, sort of. Though Zegras didn't play a role in Alex Turcotte's goal that put the U.S. up 1-0, he was on the ice at the time. Brock Faber and Arthur Kaliyev earned the assists.

John Farinacci potted the go-ahead in the second frame, assisted by Jackson LaCombe.

Zegras finally got a stick on what would have been the winner, joining forces with Cole Caufield to get the puck to Matthew Boldy at the post for the 3-1 lead, but Finland crawled back to tie the game.

Kaliyev was the hero to send the team to the championship.

Though he had a quieter night Sunday, Zegras still managed to move deeper into the record books by tying Jeremy Roenick for second all-time for most points by an American skater at a WJC, while his 25th career point also tied Roenick, according to ESPN's Chris Peters.

He needs three points to tie the USA record for points at a single WJC and is two away from the USA career record at the WJC.

Power-Play Trends Reversed

Finland has played dirty throughout the tournament, with 62 penalty minutes on 21 minor calls to lead all countries entering Monday. The United States had capitalized on penalties on its way through to the semifinals, scoring eight of its 30 goals on the power play while converting the advantage into a goal 42 percent of the time.

The trend was reversed early in the game when the U.S. was whistled twice in the first period and Finland was able to capitalize to score the equalizer.

While the U.S. picked up its third penalty of the game in the middle of the second period, it was able to kill it off successfully. A double-minor penalty on Finland forward Aku Raty for a high stick resulted in an insurance goal for the U.S. from Matthew Boldy.

It was a power-play goal that allowed Finland to tie the game in the end, too.

If the U.S. wants to upset the defending champions Tuesday, it will have to continue to play the clean game that got it this far in the first place.

Canada's Balanced Attack

Boasting the strongest offense in the tournament, with 36 goals to lead all countries entering Monday's game, there hasn't been one star who's stood out among the rest in Edmonton. Nearly every player on Canada's roster has recorded at least one point.

Forward Dylan Cozens ranked second among all skaters with 13 points by way of seven goals and six assists entering Monday, while a bulk of other skaters were further down the ranks. Peyton Krebs added eight points through five games, while Connor McMichael and Quinton Byfield had seven each before the semifinal.

On Monday, five different skaters potted goals for the 2020 champions: Alex Newhook, McMichael, Cole Perfetti, Braden Schneider and Cozens.

Even goalkeeper Devon Levi tried to get in on the fun.

Russia's Wavering Wall in Net

Russian goaltender Yaroslav Askarov had an up-and-down tournament leading into Monday's semifinal game, having allowed nine goals through four games with a 2.22 GAA, the highest among the four semifinalist goaltenders.

Against a Canada offense that posted a tournament-high 36 goals scored entering Monday, Askarov needed to be on if he was going to have a chance at exacting revenge onto the 2020 champions.

He got off to a tough start when he allowed a near-immediate goal to Newhook, who missed Canada's previous outing with a shoulder injury, with just 59 seconds off the clock, and he wasn't able to recover from Canada's offensive onslaught.

Askarov had a highlight-reel moment in the second quarter when he denied a penalty shot awarded to Cozens.

But he had a difficult time holding on to his stick, resulting in a fourth goal for Canada, the creation of a Twitter account from the point of view of the forgotten stick and many questions from those watching.

The defending champions ended the night with five goals on 35 shots.

Canada countered with Levi between the pipes, and the Northeastern netminder—who has yet to appear in an NCAA game—has now allowed just three goals in six outings, with three shutouts.

On Monday, he made 28 saves to lead Canada to another stifling of Russia.

What's Next?

Canada will play the United States for the gold medal on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET.

The third-place game between Russia and Finland will be played at 5:30 p.m. ET Tuesday.