Both Russians and Canadian fairly comfortably defeated their opponents during the semifinal-round on Sunday. Russia defeated Sweden 4-1, while Canada earned a 5-1 victory against Slovakia.
#WJC2015 UPDATE | #RUS has defeated #SWE 4-1 and will play for the gold medal tomorrow night. #RUSvsSWE pic.twitter.com/4yAtGgV9v1
— 2015 World Juniors (@HC_WJC) 4 января 2015
Canada has won three out of last four gold-medal games (2005, 2006 and 2007) against Russia. The Canadians were close to a victory in the 2011 gold-medal game as well, winning 3-0 after the second period. The Russians, however, managed to score five goals in the last period and earned a stunning 5-3 victory in Buffalo. The 2011 gold-medal game against Russia is the loss the Canadians would much rather forget, Canadian Global News said.
Take another look at that #CAN goal https://t.co/NbtV3bxrub #WJC2015 #WorldJuniors #HereWeGo #SlowMotion
— 2015 World Juniors (@HC_WJC) 5 января 2015
Russia is riding a high emotional wave after defeating the United States 3-2 in the quarterfinals and cruising through Sweden that had a 5-0 record on its way to the semis.
"There was no crying on the backyard rink. That’s a quick rule I learned.” STORY: http://t.co/CsiXy3y30K pic.twitter.com/HwSSv0qG7V
— Team Canada Men (@HC_Men) 5 января 2015
“We are not scared to play against the Canadians in the final. Right now, we are feeling great and tomorrow will be the most important game in our lives,” said Russia’s Rinat Valiev.
#WJC2015 | "We were ready for today. We played an amazing game." — Ivan Barbashev (@StLouisBlues pick) pic.twitter.com/IvjER2e90q
— 2015 World Juniors (@HC_WJC) 5 января 2015
Russia’s coach Valery Bragin said playing against Canada in the gold-medal game is “the best thing for all of the hockey community” and called Russia-Canada a “hockey classic”, according to Global News.
"It's the most-wanted hockey classic. Everyone wants to see this game." — A. Sharov on the Gold Medal Game #CANvsRUS pic.twitter.com/xBJHoFJP05
— 2015 World Juniors (@HC_WJC) 5 января 2015
The final game will start at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday (1 a.m. GMT on Tuesday) in Toronto.
Sweden and Slovakia will play for the bronze medal.
