Canada beats US 4-1 in semifinals at World Juniors

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Mark Visentin made 22 saves and Canada beat the United States 4-1 in the semifinals of the World Junior Hockey Championships on Monday night.

Curtis Hamilton, Quinton Howden, Ryan Johansen and Zack Kassian scored for Canada, which plays Russia on Wednesday in the tournament's gold-medal game. Russia beat Sweden 4-3 in a shootout earlier Monday, with Denis Golubev scoring the deciding goal.

The U.S. will face Sweden for the bronze, seeking its first medal on home soil. The tournament has been staged four previous times in the United States.

Canada is looking for its 16th gold medal since the tournament began in 1977 and will make its 10th straight appearance in the title game. Russia is in the final for the first time since 2007, when it lost 4-2 to Canada. The Canadians are 7-5 in gold-medal games against the Russians.

Chris Brown spoiled Visentin's shutout bid with a power-play goal with 10:23 remaining. Jack Campbell made 37 saves for the U.S., which fell to 6-28-3 against Canada in tournament play.

Canada controlled the play during the first period, outshooting the United States 12-5 and scoring the game's first two goals. That energized a charged-up crowd at sold-out HSBC Arena, where about 80 percent of the fans were Canadians who made the short trip over the border.

Hamilton struck first, converting a rebound 2:38 into the game after Campbell made a diving save on Hamilton's backhander. With 6:06 left, Howden tapped in a nice feed from Brett Connolly to put Canada up 2-0.

About 5 minutes into the second period, Visentin stopped a wrist shot by Nick Bjugstad on the game's first power play. Canada scored about a minute later, while the U.S. was down two men. Johansen swiped at a rebound from the slot after Campbell made an initial stop on a point shot.

Kassian made it 4-0 just 6 minutes into the third period, wristing a shot between Campbell's legs to finish a breakaway.

NOTES: Switzerland forward Tristan Scherwey will miss his team's game for fifth place against Finland after being issued a one-game suspension for a hit to the head. Scherway was issued the suspension for checking Canadian forward Carter Ashton in the Swiss' 4-1 loss in a quarterfinal game Sunday. The suspension was announced by disciplinary judge Dan Marouelli after Scherwey was assessed a 2-minute minor penalty and a 10-minute misconduct.