5-time defending champion Canada advances to junior final, beating Switzerland 6-1

Canada beats Switzerland 6-1 in junior semifinals

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan — Taylor Hall scored twice, and Jake Allen made 20 saves in five-time defending champion Canada’s 6-1 semifinal victory over Switzerland on Sunday in the world junior hockey championship.

The United States faced Sweden in the second semifinal Sunday night.

Marco Scandella scored short-handed, and Jordan Eberle, Brayden Schenn and Stefan Della Rovere added goals to help Canada reach the final for the ninth straight year.

“It’s very special,” Hall said. “When you’re put in that position, you do everything you can to achieve it. This is the opportunity of a lifetime for us, just to get to the final. To win that sixth goal medal would be unbelievable.”

Eberle had a power-play goal in the first period to tie John Tavares’ career Canadian goals record with 12. The Regina Pats star also matched Jason Allison for second place on the career Canadian points list with 24.

Mauro Jorg scored for Switzerland, a 3-2 overtime winner over Russia in the quarterfinals Saturday night.

“We played well, but our strength was down, our batteries were down after our game with the Russians,” Swiss coach Jakob Kolliker said. “We wanted to keep it close for as long as possible. The short-handed goal hurt us too much to come back.”

In relegation play, Tomas Knotek scored three goals in the Czech Republic’s 10-2 victory over Latvia.