United States forward Casey Mittelstadt didn't get the gold medal he wanted, but he was named tournament MVP, as voted by members of the World Junior Championship media. The Buffalo Sabres draft pick finished the tournament with four goals and seven assists.
Mittelstadt was also the top forward of the tournament, and named to the tournament all-star team:
Directorate Awards
Award
Player
Country
Top Goaltender
Filip Gustavsson
Sweden
Top Defenseman
Rasmus Dahlin
Sweden
Top Forward
Casey Mittelstadt
USA
Gustavsson finished the tournament with a .924 save percentage and a 1.81 GAA.
Dahlin, nearly a lock to be the top pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, had six assists and 25 shots on goal in the tournament.
All-Star team
Position
Player
Country
Goalteder
Filip Gustavsson
Sweden
Defenseman
Rasmus Dahlin
Sweden
Defenseman
Cale Makar
Canada
Forward
Casey Mittelstadt
USA
Forward
Filip Zadina
Czech Republic
Forward
Kieffer Bellows
USA
Makar led all defensemen with three goals from the back end, and finished tied with Czech defender Libor Hajek with eight points.
Zadina, who, like Dahlin, is still draft eligible, finished tied for second in the tournament with seven goals. Only Bellows, who potted nine goals, scored more.
Lias Andersson gets his silver medal presented to him. Andersson takes it off and throws it into the stands! Emotions hitting the brink! pic.twitter.com/v8tmoqJDxa
Nobody likes coming in second, but this is a little bit much.
New York Rangers first-round draft pick Lias Andersson was obviously unimpressed with the second-place silver medal he received following his team's 3-1 loss to Team Canada on Friday night.
After receiving the medal at center ice, Andersson proceeded to remove it and throw it into the first row of fans in disgust.
Sweden's captain, however, got his medal back despite his best efforts to rid himself of the hardware.
Lias Andersson asked if he's happy he got the silver medal back after tossing it in the crowd: "No."
Tyler Steenbergen tipped home a beautiful pass from Conor Timmins with less than two minutes left in regulation to help Canada defeat Sweden in the gold-medal game of the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Steenbergen played sparingly throughout the tournament, primarily being used as Canada's 13th forward, but his first goal wound up being the biggest.
Goaltender Carter Hart was tremendous, as the Canadians were outshot by the Swedes 36-28. With his eighth victory, he tied Stephane Fiset and Jimmy Waite for the most career wins in Team Canada world junior history.
The game was tightly contested. After a scoreless first period, Dillon Dube roofed the game's first goal past Swedish goalie Filip Gustavsson after a slick pass from Jordan Kyrou.
The Swedes didn't take long to answer back, though, as Tim Soderlund ripped one off the post and in for a sensational shorthanded goal midway through the second.
Just when everyone in the rink was gearing up for overtime, Steenbergen notched the winner, despite playing 7:16 in the game. Alex Formenton added an empty-netter to put the icing on the cake.
The win marked Canada's second gold medal in the last four years, while Sweden's struggles in the medal round continued, despite its historic success in the preliminary round.
The Swedes' heartbreak was summed up in one moment. During the medal presentation, captain Lias Andersson took off his silver medal and threw it into the stands.
It wasn't the medal it was looking for, but Team USA still skated away from the 2018 World Junior Championship with some hardware, beating the Czech Republic in convincing fashion 9-3 on Friday night in Buffalo, N.Y.
The Americans dominated the game from puck drop, getting stellar solo performances from Trent Frederic (four goals) and Kieffer Bellows (two goals, one assist).
The Czechs were outmatched at both ends of the ice, managing only three garbage-time goals late in the third period to pull the game within six.
Bellows, a New York Islanders first-round pick, broke the record held by Jeremy Roenick for most goals by an American at a single world junior tournament with his nine tallies in seven games.
The U.S. earned a world junior medal for the third consecutive year, while the Czechs finished in fourth place - their best showing since earning Bronze in 2005.
With his second goal of the bronze-medal game Friday against the Czech Republic, Bellows passed Jeremy Roenick for the most goals scored by an American at a single World Junior Championship with nine.
Roenick's record stood since 1989, when he notched eight at the tournament held in Anchorage, Ala.
JR responded with a tweet, giving Bellows his stamp of approval.
Wow! That didn’t take long! Congrats on breaking my record with @BellowsKieffer 9th of the tournament. Are you kidding me. I love it! Kid is sick. #WorldJuniors
The best way for Sweden to defeat Canada in Friday's gold-medal game? Stay out of the box.
Canada's power play has been operating at a remarkable rate thus far in the tournament. They've scored 13 goals in 23 opportunities with the man advantage - good for an astonishing 56.5 percent.
While the average NHL power play is obviously operating in completely different circumstances, for comparison's sake, it's been successful just 19.1 percent of the time this season.
Matchups against softer opponents such as Slovakia, Denmark, and Switzerland have aided Canada's numbers, but the power play has also clicked in tougher matchups. The team scored one power-play goal against Finland, two against the United States, and three against Czech Republic.
The Swedes have taken the second-most minor penalties in the tournament, and will need to be more disciplined if they hope to capture their first gold medal since 2012.
Calgary Flames coach Glen Gulutzan was a little displeased with his group at practice Friday.
Coming off of a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, the Flames appeared to be taking things a little too lightly the following day, and that didn't sit well with the bench boss.
He certainly wasn't shy in expressing that feeling to the squad.
As Gulutzan advised, we've checked the standings - Calgary currently sits three points outside of the final playoff position in the Western Conference.
Sitting eight points back of a playoff position halfway through the season, reality is setting in: The Montreal Canadiens are likely to be sellers ahead of the Feb. 26 trade deadline.
The exodus began Thursday when the Canadiens sent backup netminder Al Montoya to the Edmonton Oilers. While that was a minor trade, Montreal could make a much more substantial move in the form of dealing captain Max Pacioretty.
It may seem unusual for a Canadiens squad that can't find the back of the net to move on from its most prolific goal-scorer. However, Pacioretty's also the most valuable trade chip in the team's forward ranks.
Signed through 2019 for $4.5 million, Pacioretty's manageable cap hit makes him especially attractive to potential suitors. Like his team, he's struggled this season, with just 22 points in 41 games, but he's a five-time 30-goal scorer. Meanwhile, moving him would help the Canadiens add some sorely needed younger assets.
With that in mind, here are three possible trade destinations that would be great fits for Pacioretty, while fetching a valuable return for Montreal.
Calgary Flames
After acquiring blue-liner Travis Hamonic from the New York Islanders in a summer deal, and adding goaltender Mike Smith to stabilize the team between the pipes, Calgary came out of the offseason as a favorite to make some noise in the West.
The Flames no doubt made improvements in their own end, but the team's offensive ability remained questionable, and that's proven to be their weakness. The Flames are one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league and haven't been able to manufacture much offense outside of their top-six forwards.
The likes of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, and Matthew Tkachuk provide much of the scoring, but Calgary could use one more offensive weapon. Enter Pacioretty. The Flames don't have many draft picks to part with thanks to the Hamonic deal, but they do have a few younger pieces that could entice the Canadiens - like Sam Bennett, who could fill a center role in Montreal.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins have already had success reforming a star from a Canadian market - former Toronto Maple Leafs winger Phil Kessel - and they have a chance to go 2-for-2 if they acquire Pacioretty.
Away from the pressures of Toronto, Kessel has excelled, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh. It's easy to imagine a similar output from Pacioretty if he's free to play without the challenge of carrying the Canadiens' captaincy.
Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has already stated he could be aggressive ahead of the trade deadline, and he'll need to be, as Pittsburgh's currently three points back of a playoff position. That race won't get any easier as all eight teams in the Metropolitan Division contend for the postseason.
Late in December, the Penguins recalled the up-and-coming Daniel Sprong in hopes of jump-starting their offense. However, that opportunity could also be seen as a trade showcase. The former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League scorer - he tallied 59 points in 31 games with Charlottetown last season - could intrigue the Canadiens.
San Jose Sharks
Much like Calgary, the Sharks are struggling to score. Their tight defensive structure, coupled with the exceptional netminding duo of Martin Jones and Aaron Dell, keeps San Jose in games, but the team's lack of finish will prevent it from accomplishing anything of note when the games matter most.
With just 104 goals, only four teams - Montreal and fellow cellar dwellers Ottawa, Arizona, and Buffalo - have lit the lamp less often than San Jose this season. That's troubling for a team that holds down one of three playoff positions in the Pacific Division.
If San Jose hopes to make a playoff run like the one it did two seasons ago, general manager Doug Wilson needs to address his team's offensive woes. It's even more pressing because the Sharks' window of opportunity to win a Stanley Cup is closing fast - the average age of their top four scorers is nearly 33.
Pacioretty has just nine goals this season, but only two Sharks have exceeded that mark, meaning the Canadiens star certainly has something to contribute to San Jose's forward ranks.
Late last month, the Rangers disclosed Kreider would be out indefinitely due to a blood clot in his arm. The 26-year-old has been sidelined for the past three games.
While no timeline was given for Kreider's return, TSN's Darren Dreger reported the forward's recovery could keep him out of the lineup until March.
Kreider has scored 22 points in 37 games this season.
