Unheralded goalie Thomas Milic shines, Canada shakes off slow start to reach junior final
Milic #Milic
KEVIN BARRETT, Postmedia Network
HALIFAX — Oh, how they worried.
But thanks to an exceptional 43-save performance from undrafted goaltender Thomas Milic and an equally gutsy and determined comeback by the entire roster, Team Canada is headed to the gold-medal game of the 2023 world junior hockey championship.
On Wednesday, the Canadians climbed out of an early 2-0 hole, rode Milic’s starring performance and downed the United States 6-2 in an electric semifinal to clinch their berth in Thursday’s final against Czechia.
I am shocked he is not drafted,” said Canadian forward Connor Bedard of Milic’s career path to date. “There are only so many ways to describe it (tonight). He was unbelievable. I don’t know if we win that game (without him).”
Milic called it the greatest game of his career.
“It was the sum of everything that happened tonight,” he said. “The players who are on this team, the players who are on that other team, the stage we are at here … it was a great game to watch for the fans, exciting right from the beginning right through until the end. It was the perfect night.”
It was not easy, however.
For more than five nerve-wracking minutes at the start, Canadian junior hockey fans wondered where their hockey stars were.
Outshot 9-0 and outscored by two, the Canadians finally found their legs, and some energy, midway through the opening period, ultimately getting on the board before the period ended with a momentum-altering marker by Bedard, and then adding with three unanswered goals in the second to seize control.
On a national junior squad loaded with NHL picks, its three youngest stars — the only Canadian players not yet drafted — rescued the team and the country’s gold-medal hopes in a gripping contest that left the record crowd of 10,636 at Scotiabank Centre delirious and exhausted.
Record-setting, all-world forward Bedard of the Regina Pats ignited the rally from the 2-0 deficit, undrafted teammate Adam Fantilli of the University of Michigan pumped in a go-ahead goal in the second period and added an assist on the insurance marker in the third.
And Milic of the Seattle Thunderbirds produced an electric collection of saves, each seemingly more significant than the previous as the arena was transformed from that nervous pit of early doubt into a thundering red and white rock concert as the final seconds wound down.
Canada was aided by a pair of goaltender interference calls that negated American goals 7:22 into the second period and again 38 seconds into the final period.
Logan Cooley and Kenny Connors scored at 1:19 and 10:30 of the first for the Americans to shock what was, to that point, a flag-waving, enthusiastic crowd.
But it was Bedard, who deftly tipped in a pass from Ethan Del Mastro off a faceoff win at 11:49 to re-ignite the crowd and start the comeback.
After Logan Stankoven tied the game on the first shift of the second period, Fantilli, the presumptive No. 2 pick in this year’s draft behind Bedard, drove to the net, converting another centring pass at 5:46.
Joshua Roy, the outstanding Sherbrooke Phoenix forward, continued his strong tournament with two goals, two assists and a dazzling bit of penalty-killing, most notably in the second period.
And that left Milic, the undisputed star of this one. He dazzled in the second, blocked ultra high-quality chances by Chaz Lucius and Jimmy Snuggerud but saved his best work for the third, with a glove effort on a one-timer by Cutter Gauthier and a followup — also on Gauthier — a sliding out-of-control block on a chance in front.
Shortly after that sequence, defenceman Brandt Clarke, on loan from the L.A. Kings, effectively iced it at 9:45 for the three-goal lead.
Roy added a shorthanded empty-netter at 16:45.
David Jiricek tied the game with 39 seconds remaining in regulation and Jiri Kulich scored in overtime Wednesday as Czechia came back to beat Sweden 2-1 and advance to the final of the world junior hockey championship.
Ludvig Jansson scored in the second period for Sweden, which appeared poised to advance to the gold-medal game for the first time since 2018.
Jiricek gave Czechia life when he ripped a shot from just outside the left faceoff circle past Swedish goalie Carl Lindbom with time winding down.
Kulich sent Czechia to the tournament final when he skated in from the right side and beat Lindbom 9:10 into the extra frame for his fifth goal.
Czechia advanced to the gold-medal game for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001.
— files from The Canadian Press