Arthur Kaliyev's late goal lifts United States into world juniors title game

EDMONTON, Alberta – Arthur Kaliyev scored with 1:16 remaining and the United States advanced to the championship game of the world juniors, beating Finland 4-3 Monday night.

Alex Turcotte, John Farinacci and Matthew Boldy also scored for the U.S., which won gold four previous times, their last coming in 2017.

Spencer Knight, one of eight returning players for a U.S. team that finished sixth last year following a quarterfinal loss against Finland, stopped 33 shots.

Kasper Simontaival had two goals and Roni Hirvonen also scored for Finland. Kari Piiroinen made 21 saves.

The United States will face Canada, which beat Russia 5-0 earlier Monday, in the gold medal game on Tuesday. Finland faces Russia for the bronze.

Turcotte held off a Finnish defender to swipe home a bouncing puck from the top of the crease to open the scoring at 12:39 of the first period.

Finland responded quickly on a power play, with Simontaival finishing off a one-touch pass from Kasper Puutio on a set play at 14:06.

Knight stopped 18-of-19 shots through 40 minutes, and was rewarded by his teammates when the U.S. struck twice in a 1:07 span of the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the third.

Jackson LaCombe caught Finland making a change and sprung Farinacci on a breakaway with a slick pass up the middle from his own zone, with the American forward snapping the puck past Piiroinen at 15:53 of the second.

Then while on a man advantage, Boldy tipped in a perfect snap pass from Trevor Zegras at the side of the net with three minutes to go in the period.

Zegras’ assist gives him 16 points in six games and ties him with Jeremy Roenick (1989) for the second-highest single tournament point total in American history. Doug Weight set the record with 19 points in 1991.

Simontaival brought Finland back within one midway through the third, and Hirvonen tied it on a power play with 3:43 remaining.