Canada defeated the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) 2-1 in overtime Thursday to advance to the world championship semifinals.

Andrew Mangiapane scored the winning goal for Canada off a brilliant setup from Troy Stecher. Adam Henrique forced the extra frame with a tally in the third period.

ROC held a significant advantage over Canada in NHL star power and entered Thursday's contest leading the tournament in goals scored.

Canada will play the United States on Saturday at 7:15 a.m. ET, while Germany and Finland will clash in the other semifinal matchup.

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Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice defended Mark Scheifele on Thursday after the star earned a hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety for charging Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans.

"You need to do everything you can to stop a goal from being scored. It was a heavy, heavy hit for sure, but it was clean," Maurice said, according to The Athletic's Murat Ates.

Maurice added that Scheifele didn't leave his feet or lead with his elbow, and that Evans' head wasn't the target of the impact.

Scheifele skated nearly the entire length of the ice and steamrolled Evans as he tucked a goal into Winnipeg's empty net late in the third period of Game 1 on Wednesday night. Evans was stretchered off the ice and is sidelined indefinitely with a concussion.

The Canadiens said the hit was disgusting and promised retribution should Scheifele return at some point in the series.

Scheifele's hearing isn't in-person, meaning he can be suspended for a maximum of five games. He's never faced supplemental discipline to this point in his NHL career.

Game 2 goes Friday night.

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Petr Mrazek will start in goal for the Carolina Hurricanes versus the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 on Thursday night, head coach Rod Brind'Amour confirmed to reporters.

Alex Nedeljkovic had started Carolina's eight previous playoff games so far, posting a .920 save percentage and 2.18 goals against average.

"Ned's been great, that's not really the issue," Brind'Amour said, according to the Raleigh News & Observer's Chip Alexander. "We're going to need everybody as fresh as possible to get a victory."

Mrazek missed much of the regular season due to injury but was reliable when healthy. The 29-year-old had a .923 save percentage in 12 appearances.

The Hurricanes are in desperate need of a win after dropping the opening two games of the series to the defending champions.

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Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans had to be stretchered off the ice in Game 1 after taking a vicious hit from Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele.

Scheifele lined up Evans from across the ice as the Canadiens player buried an empty-netter with less than a minute remaining in the contest.

The Jets pivot was handed a charging major and game misconduct.

Here's a look from another angle:

Scheifele left his feet, led with his elbow, and appeared to make contact with Evans' head.

Habs defenseman Joel Edmundson took issue with the hit, saying there will be repercussions if Scheifele appears again in the series.

"It was a dirty hit, but the league's going to take care of it," he told reporters postgame, per TSN's John Lu. "If (Scheifele) gets back in the series, we're going to make his life miserable."

Jesperi Kotkaniemi also defended his teammate.

"It's disgusting. Little respect for the players out there," Kotkaniemi said. "Just seeing (Evans) moving (on the stretcher) after a thing like that was huge."

Evans had movement in his arms as he left the ice.

Montreal held on for the 5-3 win.

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The Buffalo Sabres will select first overall in July after winning the NHL draft lottery.

The Seattle Kraken moved up to second, dropping the Anaheim Ducks to third. There were no other changes based on the pre-lottery odds.

Here's the order of the first 15 picks:

The Arizona Coyotes forfeited their first-round pick for violating the NHL's combine testing policy in 2019-20. A redraw would've occurred if the Coyotes won.

There's no consensus top player in this year's draft. Canadian defenseman Owen Power is the top-ranked North American skater, while Swedish winger William Eklund is the No. 1-ranked international skater, according to NHL Central Scouting.

The Sabres have picked first overall three times in franchise history. They selected Gilbert Perreault in 1970, Pierre Turgeon in 1987, and Rasmus Dahlin in 2018.

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Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan supported his star players Wednesday in the aftermath of their latest playoff blunder.

"We are going to do this in Toronto, with this group. There'll be changes that are made, there'll be tweaks along the way, the team will evolve, the people will evolve. But we are going to get this done," Shanahan said, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton.

The future of the Maple Leafs' big four - Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and William Nylander - has been brought into question after Toronto failed to advance out of the first round for the fifth consecutive year, this time blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Montreal Canadiens.

Much of the flak has fallen on Marner and Matthews, as Tavares was injured for nearly the entire series and Nylander led the team in scoring. Marner said earlier Wednesday that he's against the team going into "panic mode," and Shanahan delivered a similar message.

"I'll say this about our top four (forwards). Any team in the league would want them, but we like them, we want to keep them here," Shanahan said, according to NHL.com's Dave McCarthy.

Although Shanahan offered a vote of confidence, he did admit his club has yet again proved it doesn't quite have what it takes to win a championship.

"There's a killer instinct that is missing that we need to address," he said, per The Athletic's James Mirtle. Shanahan added, "We have to really be honest with ourselves. We have to support our players and help them get over that hump."

The Leafs made a clear effort to obtain veteran experience this season, bringing in Wayne Simmonds, Joe Thornton, and Nick Foligno to reinforce a roster that many believed lacked grit.

Despite the additions, Toronto remains without a series win since 2004.

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Toronto Maple Leafs forward Joe Thornton hasn't yet made up his mind on if he'll play a 24th NHL season.

"This came so sudden, I really haven't had time to think about it," Thornton said Wednesday, according to Sportsnet. "First and foremost, I have to be a dad for a little bit here. But I feel really, really healthy. I feel really, really good."

Thornton's campaign ended Monday after Toronto squandered a 3-1 series lead to the Montreal Canadiens.

The 41-year-old signed a one-year, $700,000 contract with the Leafs last offseason. He notched 20 points in 44 regular-season games and added one goal in the playoffs.

Thornton's inked one-year deals in each of the past four years. The future Hall of Famer is still chasing his first Stanley Cup.

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Mitch Marner believes the Toronto Maple Leafs' best strategy is to stay the course despite another disastrous first-round playoff exit.

"Everyone just wants to get into panic mode and do stuff and try to change something up, but I think they (management) have a lot of confidence in our team," Marner said at his end-of-season media availability, according to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta. "It's up to them to decide what they want to do. We all know how much talent we have."

The heavily favored Maple Leafs blew a 3-1 series lead against the Montreal Canadiens, marking the 17th straight season they've failed to win a playoff round. It's also the fifth time the Auston Matthews and Marner-led core has been unable to advance, leading to increased criticism in recent days.

"The end result is terrible," Marner said, according to the Toronto Sun's Terry Koshan. "It's not what we wanted. No one is feeling good about this. It's awful ... what we didn't accomplish is a really shitty feeling."

Marner registered four assists in seven games versus the Habs while averaging over 24 minutes per night. He's riding an 18-game goalless drought in his playoff career.

The online backlash included a report that Marner refused to change his role on the Leafs' struggling top power-play unit, which he denied Wednesday.

"It's a complete lie," Marner said, according to Kristen Shilton of TSN. It's just people trying to get their name out there. It sucks that stuff like that's being said. I think everyone can see I'll try and play any role I can to help this team win."

Toronto drafted Marner fourth overall in 2015. He's recorded 358 points in 355 career games with his hometown team.

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