While the Stanley Cup Playoffs rage on Thursday night with the third game of the Western Conference Final between the Los Angeles Kings and the Phoenix Coyotes, the spring's other major hockey tournament is over...for the U.S. and Canada, anyway.
Both of the North American nations saw their runs in the IIHF World Championship end on Wednesday, with the U.S. losing to host Finland on Wednesday evening in Helsinki, just hours after Canada saw its run ended by upstart Slovakia on the same ice at Hartwall Arena.
Team USA had dominated the Finns when they met during the preliminary round, as Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard stopped all 18 shots he faced, while Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens, Cam Atkinson of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Chris Butler of the Calgary Flames finished with two points apiece in a 5-0 rout. When they met in Wednesday's quarterfinal round, however, it was a different story. The Finns were much more successful in getting shots to the net on Howard, and took a 1-0 lead 13:27 into the second period thanks to a goal by Jesse Joenssu. Joenssu, a former second-round draft pick of the New York Islanders, played the 2011-12 season with HV71 Jonkoping of the Swedish Elite League after a three-year stint bouncing back and forth between the Islanders and their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, Conn.
The U.S. tied it up just 21 seconds later on a goal by Kyle Palmieri of the Anaheim Ducks, and took the lead 1:39 into the third period on a goal by fellow Duck Bobby Ryan. With less than seven minutes to play, however, Mikko Koivu of the Minnesota Wild scored to tie the game at two goals apiece, setting up late heroics by Joenssu. Joenssu scored with just nine seconds remaining to put the hosts ahead for good.
Finland's win sets up a semifinal battle with Russia, while Slovakia is waiting on Sweden or the Czech Republic after the Slovaks upset Canada. The Canadians had scored a close win over Slovakia in their first game of the tournament, but the quarterfinal rematch was a different story. Slovakia scored twice in the first 10 minutes, with Florida Panthers winger Tomas Kopecky and longtime NHL vet Miroslav Satan finding the back of the net. Satan, who played the 2011-12 season with Slovakian club Slovan Bratislava after playing 1,050 games in the NHL with the Oilers, Sabres, Islanders, Penguins and Bruins, scored on assists from Bratislava teammate Libor Hudacek and former Penguins forward Tomas Surovy (now with CSKA Moscow).
The Canadians stormed back behind goals from Winnpeg's Evander Kane, Jeff Skinner of the Hurricanes, and Alexandre Burrows of the Canucks, taking a 3-2 lead into the second intermission. The Slovaks weren't done, though, getting a goal from former Sabres and Blackhawks winger Milan Bartovic to tie the game with 6:35 left, and a winning goal from Sharks forward Michal Handzus with 2:28 remaining.
The semifinals will be played on Saturday at Hartwall Arena.