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2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup
Game #16
Semifinal
Final (OT)
August 10, 2018 7:00 pm MDT
Rogers Place
Edmonton, AB

Scoring

Teams
1st
2nd
3rd
OT
Final
Teams
1
2
3
OT
F
3
0
2
0
5
2
1
2
1
6

Shots on Goal

1st
2nd
3rd
OT
Final
1
2
3
OT
F
17
8
13
1
39
14
9
10
1
34

Statistics

PP
PIM
1 / 4
8
2 / 4
8

Game Story

WILLIAMS SCORES OT WINNER, SENDS CANADA TO GOLD MEDAL GAME

JASON LA ROSE

EDMONTON, Alta. – Dylan Cozens (Whitehorse, Y.T./Lethbridge, WHL) tied the game with a buzzer-beater and Josh Williams (Langley, B.C./Medicine Hat, WHL) won it early in overtime, putting Canada in the gold medal game at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup with a wild 6-5 win over the United States in semifinal action Friday night.

With the crowd still roaring from the emotion of the Cozens goal, Williams took a drop pass from Peyton Krebs (Okotoks, Alta./Kootenay, WHL) and fired a wrist shot past the glove of U.S. goaltender Dustin Wolf, keeping hopes alive for a 22nd summer under-18 gold medal.

The Canadians will face Sweden in the gold medal game Saturday night (7 p.m. MT).

Cozens got the game to an extra period, gathering in a feed from Bowen Byram (Cranbrook, B.C./Vancouver, WHL) and snapping a quick shot past Wolf to tie the game just as the horn sounded.

The wild finish was fitting for a back-and-forth thriller between the North American rivals; the U.S. held leads of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 5-4 before the Canadians came back, and the Americans erased a 4-3 deficit in the third period before the Cozens goal.

Nicholas Robertson opened the scoring with his first of three goals, wiring a shot under the cross-bar for a power-play marker just 3:20 in. The shot was in and out off the back bar so quickly, play continued for more than two minutes before the referees confirmed the goal.

That started a run of four goals in less than five minutes – Alexis Lafrenière (St-Eustache, Que./Rimouski, QMJHL) tied the game at 4:39 and Aaron Huglen restored the American advantage with a beautiful lacrosse-style goal at 5:48 before Jamieson Rees (Hamilton, Ont./Sarnia, OHL) stuffed in a bouncing puck at 8:10 to even things up again.

Robertson got his second of the period with less than six minutes left, sneaking a backhand through Canadian netminder Nolan Maier (Yorkton, Sask./Saskatoon, WHL) right off a scrambled face-off.

The lone goal of the second period came from Xavier Parent (Blainville, Que./Halifax, QMJHL), who one-timed a feed from Lafrenière for a power-play marker to send the game to the intermission tied 3-3.

Williams gave Canada its first lead early in the third period, whipping a shot over the shoulder of Wolf, but Robertson finished his hat trick at 11:58 to tie the game before Josh Groll jumped on a turnover behind the Canadian net and set up Luke Toporowski to put the U.S. back in front.

That led to the wild finish, with Williams sending the pro-Canadian crowd at Rogers Place home happy.

The Americans will have a short turnaround ahead of the bronze medal game against Russia on Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. MT).

Play by Play

Team
Description
Time
1st Period
GOALTENDER CHANGE
Goaltender Change: Nolan Maier

00:00
PENALTY
Penalty: Ryan Suzuki
Holding (2:00)
02:08
PENALTY
Penalty: Cade Webber
Holding (2:00)
03:20
GOAL (POWER PLAY)
Goal: Nicholas Robertson

Assists: Josh Nodler, Mike Koster
03:20
GOAL
Goal: Alexis Lafreniere

Assists: Xavier Parent, Bowen Byram
04:39
GOAL
Goal: Aaron Huglen

Assists: Arthur Kaliyev, Michael Mancinelli
05:48
GOAL
Goal: Jamieson Rees

08:10
GOAL
Goal: Nicholas Robertson

Assists: Josh Nodler
14:33
2nd Period
PENALTY
Penalty: (Served by Alexis Lafreniere)
Too Many Players (2:00)
02:40
PENALTY
Penalty: Braden Schneider
Interference (2:00)
04:38
PENALTY
Penalty: Robert Mastrosimone
Hooking (2:00)
07:31
GOAL (POWER PLAY)
Goal: Xavier Parent

Assists: Alexis Lafreniere, Kirby Dach
08:34
PENALTY
Penalty: Matthew Robertson
Holding (2:00)
15:30
3rd Period
PENALTY
Penalty: Robert Mastrosimone
High-Sticking (2:00)
00:25
PENALTY
Penalty: Michael Feenstra
Interference (2:00)
03:10
GOAL (POWER PLAY)
Goal: Josh Williams

Assists: Ryan Suzuki
03:31
GOAL
Goal: Nicholas Robertson

Assists: Arthur Kaliyev
11:58
GOAL
Goal: Luke Toporowski

Assists: Josh Groll
13:33
GOAL
Goal: Dylan Cozens

Assists: Bowen Byram, Kaedan Korczak
19:59
Overtime
GOAL
Goal: Josh Williams

Assists: Peyton Krebs
01:44

Goaltenders

Name Team Mins Shots Saves GA SV%
Dustin Wolf USA 61 34 28 6 0.824
Nolan Maier CAN 60 39 34 5 0.872

Game Leaders

Goals 3 - Assists 0 - Points 3
G 3 - A 0 - P 3
Goals 2 - Assists 0 - Points 2
G 2 - A 0 - P 2
Goals 0 - Assists 2 - Points 2
G 0 - A 2 - P 2
Goals 1 - Assists 1 - Points 2
G 1 - A 1 - P 2
Goals 0 - Assists 2 - Points 2
G 0 - A 2 - P 2
Goals 1 - Assists 1 - Points 2
G 1 - A 1 - P 2

Previous Games

4 - 5 L @ RussiaRUS
Aug 11, 2018
6 - 2 W v SwedenSWE
Aug 11, 2018
5 - 6 L @ CanadaCAN
Aug 10, 2018
6 - 5 W v United StatesUSA
Aug 10, 2018
3 - 8 L @ RussiaRUS
Aug 8, 2018
4 - 3 W v SwedenSWE
Aug 8, 2018
Videos
Photos
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: CAN 3 – CZE 2 (Gold Medal)
Spence scored overtime winner to lead Canada to gold.
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: CAN 7 – USA 2 (Semifinal)
Canada scored five straight to advance to the gold medal game.
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: CAN 5 – SUI 0 (Preliminary)
Catton scored twice as Canada finished atop Group B.
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: CAN 14 – SVK 4 (Preliminary)
Ritchie finished with four three to lead Canada to its first win.