CANADA EARNS WORLD JUNIOR SEMIFINAL BERTH WITH 5-4 SHOOTOUT WIN OVER AMERICANS

SASKATOON – Jordan Eberle, Nazem Kadri and Brandon Kozun all scored in a shootout, and Jake Allen made the one stop he needed to give Canada a 5-4 victory over the United States in the final round-robin game for both teams Thursday at the world junior hockey championship.

After the first five shooters scored, Allen closed the pads on Jordan Schroeder's attempt, then was mobbed by his teammates after the spirited comeback victory.

The win gave Canada (4-0) first place in Pool A and a bye to the semifinal on Sunday while the U.S. (3-1) was pushed into a quarter-final game Saturday against Finland, which finished third in Pool B. Canada trailed 4-2 midway through the third period when Eberle's second goal of the game brough the crowd to life, and defenceman Alex Pietrangelo tied the game with a short-handed goal with 4:15 left in regulation. Schoeder and Tyler Johnson had scored shorthanded goals in the second period for the United States.

Philip McRae and Danny Kristo also scored for the U.S., which outskated Canada for two and a half periods, forcing numerous turnovers despite the energetic support of a sell-out crowd of 15,171 at the Credit Union Centre. Stefan Della Rovere also scored for Canada, which earned a valuable extra day of rest with the victory as it looks to win its sixth consecutive world junior title.

The Canadians went into the game with 13 power-play goals in three games, but were blanked on six occasions Thursday.Canada got the boost it wanted on its first chance of the game, grabbing a puck played off the boards by American goalie Jack Campbell. Della Rovere put in a rebound at the 2:03 mark, the first even-strength goal allowed by the U.S. in the tournament.

With Brayden Schenn off for boarding, the Americans tied it as McRae took a pass from Jerry D'Amigo and scored into an open side at 3:40. The Americans brought a heavy checking game and had a handful of good chances through the rest of the period that were turned away by Allen.

Johnson hit Schroeder with a pass behind the Canadian defence and went in alone to deke Allen shorthanded 7:08 into the second period. Eberle got it back at 11:15 on a rush with Schenn, but Canada started playing with fire. Kreider was fouled going in alone on the net and got a penalty shot at 12:20, but fired wide. And after Jared Cowen gave up the puck at the U.S. blue-line, Kyle Palmieri went in on a breakaway and hit a goal post.

The Americans finally got a back-breaking shorthanded goal with 11 seconds left in the period when D'Amigo rushed down the left side and fired a shot that went into the air and was batted into the net by Johnson.

The same Canadian power play had just ended when Kristo broke down the left side and beat Allen 1:01 into the third period. The crowd came to life when Eberle redirected Brandon McMillan's shot in at 10:03 and they they shook the building when Pietrangelo struck for the tying goal.

Notes: Defenceman Calvin de Haan missed a second game with an undisclosed injury, although he has been skating on his own. Forward Jordan Caron, who didn't finish a game Tuesday against Slovakia, was back in the lineup but left again after the first period.