Bjork also became the fifth Notre Dame player to win a medal at the World Junior Championship, joining Lucia (gold in 2013), Kyle Palmieri (gold in 2010 and bronze in 2011), Kyle Lawson (bronze in 2007) and Ben Simon (silver in 1997).
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DeBrincat finished the tournament with a goal on one shot in all or parts of five games.
The drama continued as Mikko Rantanen scored on the power play with just two minutes left on the clock.
Ryan Donato (Harvard) and Matthew Tkachuk each scored twice and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 35 shots in the win.
Kapanen deked around two defenders, skated around the back of Russia’s goal and threw the puck into a wide-open net as Georgiev failed to dive back into position.
The contrast is not as dramatic for Team USA, which includes more NCAA players who are familiar with bigger ice surfaces in their regular league play. With just 6.9 seconds left and their goalie pulled, Russian Federation tied the game 3-3 with a goal from Andrei Svetlakov and we were headed to overtime after an exhilarating game.
Detroit Red Wings prospect Axel Holmstrom had the other goal for the Swedes, who outshot the Americans, 38-29. Many Canadians in attendance supported the host side even though the Finns eliminated Canada in the quarter-finals.
Earlier in the day a four-goal explosion in the second period was the difference-maker as the United States rolled on to a dominant 8-3 victory over Sweden to win the 2016 world junior bronze medal.
Saarijarvi was a key player for his team all game long, but man is this assist gorgeous. Matthew Tkachuk (eight points), Colin White and Zach Werenski (seven points) have also provided scoring for Team USA. “It’s awesome. It’s a huge rivalry against Sweden and it feels really good to beat them”.
For Russia, forward Evgeny Svechnikov, the Wings’ first-round pick in 2015, was scoreless with four penalty minutes and a minus-3 rating in six games heading into the final. Sure, but more of a “meh” disappointed.
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“I’m glad they showed up for the bronze medal game”, USA coach Ron Wilson said.
