GAME STATISTICS | LIVE GAME BLOG

BASEL, Switzerland – Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team started strong but ultimately fell short in its Saturday semifinal at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship, dropping a 7-2 decision to Sweden.

• Macklin Celebrini (Vancouver, B.C./Chicago, USHL) opened the scoring with a power-play goal 4:31 into the game, increasing his point total to a team-leading 12.
• Angus MacDonnell (Toronto, Ont./Mississauga, OHL) scored his first goal of the tournament.
• Étienne Morin (Valleyfield, Que./Moncton, QMJHL), Cam Allen (Toronto, Ont./Guelph, OHL) and Andrew Cristall (Burnaby, B.C./Kelowna, WHL) recorded assists.
• Carson Bjarnason (Carberry, Man./Brandon, WHL) made four saves before leaving the game after the first period. Gabriel D’Aigle (Sorel-Tracy, Que./Victoriaville, QMJHL) made 18 saves in relief.
• Following the game, Celebrini, Matthew Wood (Nanaimo, B.C./University of Connecticut, HE) and Calum Ritchie (Oakville, Ont./Oshawa, OHL) were named Canada’s top three players of the tournament.

Next Game:
Canada vs. Slovakia (bronze medal game) – Sunday, April 30 (9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT)

TSN and RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcast partners, are broadcasting all Team Canada games at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship. Please check local listings for details.

Quotes:

“It was 2-2 after one [period] and we are right there with them. [Sweden] chipped away, we had some opportunities that we did not capitalize on and they did. [Sweden] has a lot of skilled players and when you give them time and space they make you pay. We are disappointed, no doubt about that. We came here for a reason – to win a gold medal. It might not be the colour we want, but obviously we can come home with something tomorrow.”
• Head coach Jeff Truitt (Rosetown, Sask./Prince Albert, WHL) on coming up short in the semifinals

“I do not think it comes down to our will; every one of the guys in that room wanted to win just as badly as the next, but ultimately we could not capitalize. Everyone has a bitter taste in their mouth right now. We want to go home with a win and have the opportunity to do that tomorrow. It sucks for now, we will take in the loss a little bit right now but when we wake up tomorrow we have to have our minds set on winning bronze.”
• Allen on preparing for the bronze medal game

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