Two teams who had Vancouver Canucks representation on them are going home after today’s Quarterfinals stage of the IIHF World Hockey Championships.
We’ve been keeping you up to date thus far on what has been going on for the Vancouver Canucks players who are in Slovakia for the World Hockey Championship. Today, all of the Canucks players at the tournament were in action in the Quarterfinals stage of the tournament. Here’s what happened at today’s games.
Russia vs USA
Well folks, the United States’ tournament has come to an end. The team will be disappointed in the result, but the truth is, it would have been an upset if they somehow pulled off a win against an absolute powerhouse in Russia.
A major story in this game was Russian winger Nikita Gusev, who, after a great season with St. Petersburg SKA of the KHL, is coming to the NHL next year as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights. In the win over the Americans, Gusev scored the opening goal and picked up one of his two assists on the game-winning goal. We Canucks fans are going to see a healthy dose of Gusev next year.
The game was a back and forth affair, but in a game where Russia got over 40 shots off on USA goaltender Cory Schneider — who was backed up by Thatcher Demko — the Americans were unable to pull off a comeback and are going home empty-handed.
Quinn Hughes finished the tournament with three assists, but unfortunately, won’t be walking away with a medal. Not this year.