The second game of the World Junior Championship semifinal featured Winnipeg Jets prospects Henri Nikkanen and Ville Heinola taking on the United States.
The Winnipeg Jets were so close to having all three of their prospects who were competing at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship play in the gold medal game. Unfortunately for Ville Heinola and Henri Nikkanen, who represent Finland, they lost in heartbreaking fashion to the United States, who was seeking revenge, in tonight’s semifinal.
Finland eliminated the U.S. from the last two editions of the tournament, but unfortunately for Finland, the third time was not a charm and the U.S. beat Finland 4-3.
On the first goal of the game, Nikkanen lost a battle in front of his net which led to Alex Turcotte giving the Americans a 1-0 lead. Nikkanen was battling Turcotte for position in front of the Finland goal and Nikkanen was even able to get inside position on Turcotte.
The Americans moved the puck to the front of the net and Turcotte pushed off Nikkanen and slotted the puck home. The goal can be seen in the video below:
Alex Turcotte opens the scoring between USA and Finland! pic.twitter.com/rjMjIiPkNC
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 5, 2021
Finland was able to answer back less than two minutes later on a beautiful powerplay goal to tie the game up. Heinola had an assist on the goal.
Heinola was at the top of the umbrella for the powerplay. He received the puck and faked a slapshot on net and instead fired a quick pass to Kasper Puutio who was on the right side of the United States goalie. Puutio then gave a one touch pass to the slot where Kasper Simontaival was open and he redirected the puck into the goal to even the scoreline at one apiece.
And just like that, we're tied 1-1 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/G9mSikKrah
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 5, 2021
In the second period, Heinola created some great scoring opportunities, especially on the powerplay, but Finland could not score.
With under five minutes remaining in the second, Jackson LaCombe, a United States defenseman had the puck within five feet of his own blueline looking to start a neutral zone attack. John Farinacci found some soft ice at Finland’s blueline, behind Heinola, and LaCombe fed Farinacci with a spectacular blueline-to-blueline pass for a breakaway.
Farinacci was all alone on the Finland netminder and beat the goaltender with a shot to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead.
That pass was on a ROPE 🥵 pic.twitter.com/1phJwVHhRl
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 5, 2021
A couple of minutes later the Americans struck again on the powerplay. Finland had all of their players trapped on one side of the defensive zone, including Heinola. Cole Caufield picked the puck up in the corner and passed it to Trevor Zegras who was in the high slot.
Zegras then got the puck and passed it to Matthew Boldy who was wide open and heading to the net. Boldy then redirected the puck into the net to give the United States a 3-1 lead after two.
That tip was CRISP ❄️ pic.twitter.com/aZyO8kzspD
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 5, 2021
Finland then scored to pull within one with under ten minutes left in the game. Heinola was on the ice but did not register a point on Simontaival’s second goal of the night.
Fortunately for Finland, they were given a powerplay with just under five minutes remaining in the game and they made the Americans pay. Rini Hirvonen scored on a bang-bang play in front of the Americans net. Heinola registered an assist on this powerplay goal.
https://twitter.com/TSN_Sports/status/1346317828186648578
The game only lasted tied for a couple of minutes. Arthur Kaliyev was in the offensive zone slot for the Americans and got a pass and ripped it top shelf to give the U.S. a lead in the dying stages of the contest.
The United States defended admirably in the last minute of the game and took home the victory. The U.S. will face off against Canada for the championship.
Ville Heinola finished the game with a stat line of two assists, five shots, and a -1 plus/minus. Henri Nikkanen had no points, one shot, and also had a -1 plus/minus.
Nikkanen, Heinola, and Finland will be playing Russia in the Bronze medal game tomorrow afternoon (January 5) at 4:30 p.m. Central Time. Russia lost their semifinal game against Canada 5-0. Fellow Winnipeg Jets prospect, Cole Perfetti, scored in the rout for Canada.
Winnipeg Jets Fans: What did you think of Heinola’s and Nikkanen’s performances against the United States? Leave your comments below!
*All Stats Provided by the IIHF and All Videos Courtesy of @TSN_Sports*