Canada, defending champion, snatched its qualification for the semi-finals of the 2022 Ice Hockey World Championship by overthrowing Sweden in overtime (4-3), Thursday in Tampere (Finland), the United States and the host country also qualifying.
The Canadians have come a long way: overwhelmed by their Swedish opponents in the first two periods, they trailed 3-0, before their thunderous awakening in the third and final period.
Ryan Graves gave them hope at the start of the 3rd period (3-1), but it took until the last two minutes of regulation time for them to come back up to the Swedes through Pierre-Luc Dubois (3-2, 58 : 07) and Matt Barzal (3-3, 58: 37) to send the two teams into overtime.
Stunned and quickly shorthanded, the Swedes capitulated after just 43 seconds into overtime on a shot from Ottawa Senators forward Drake Batherson.
“It’s the kind of game you will never forget, what an incredible game […] If we play like we played last period, we give ourselves a very good chance of winning the tournament,” said Canadian captain Thomas Chabot.
In the other quarter-final Thursday afternoon, the Czech Republic outclassed Germany 4-1 and will face Canada on Saturday for a place in the final.
In the evening, Finland, favorite of the tournament in front of their public, triumphed over Slovakia 4 to 2, two and a half months after their victory against the same opponent in the semi-finals (2-0) of the Beijing Olympics-2022 on the road to the first Olympic title in its history.
Tied 2-2 at the end of the 2nd period, the Slovaks lowered their flag in the 3rd by conceding two goals, one in the 44th and the other in the last seconds of the match.
The Finnish Lions, vice-world champions 2021, are in search of a fourth world crown.
They will find in the semi-final the United States, who beat Switzerland 3-0, yet the most prominent team of the group stage.
The Americans immediately took control of the match by scoring two goals in the 1st period and the 3rd in the 54th minute, leaving no chance for the Swiss.
This World Cup-2022 is disputed without Russia and Belarus, excluded in March by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) after the invasion of Ukraine.