Time runs out on Canada

CALGARY, Alta. -- It was too little, too late for Team Canada, whose third period comeback came up short in a 6-5 loss to Team Russia in the semifinal of the world junior hockey championship.

Canada trailed 6-1 midway through the third period before scoring four straight goals to cut the deficit to one. It was as close as they came as they watched the Russians celebrate on the ice at the Saddledome in Calgary after hearing the Russian national anthem.

"We didn't play 60 minutes and we had a few breakdowns," captain Jaden Schwartz said. "We were undisciplined. You can't win games if you don't play 60 minutes."

But they came close. Their third-period surge got the fans back involved and for a moment, it appeared as though they could do the unthinkable and rally from the five-goal deficit. Russian head coach Valeri Bragin changed goaltenders after Andrei Vasilevski was beat on a soft wrist shot from the point by Brandon Gormley for Canada's fifth goal.

In came Saskatoon Blades goaltender Andrei Makarov, who made seven stops to preserve the win for the Russians. Bragin admitted after the game he should have made the goalie change earlier, knowing the Canadians wouldn't lay down in the third period.

"I think that Canada is the best team in the tournament so far," he said. "I knew that the third period Canada will improve their game, so maybe we should change our goalie earlier."

It's a bitter pill for the Canadians to swallow. This will be the first time they don't play in the gold-medal game in 11 tournaments, and the third-straight year they will not win a gold. They will play the Finns on Thursday for the bronze medal.

"Bronze -- that's not the reason we came here and it's tough right now, but we have to go out there and try to win a bronze medal and we'll focus on that tomorrow," Schwartz said.

Canada made a goaltender change of their own earlier in the game. The Russians led 2-0 after one period before Brett Connolly scored Canada's first goal. Scott Wedgewood, who got the nod over Mark Visentin, was beat twice by Evgeni Kuznetsov on goals Canadian head coach Don Hay would have liked back.

Kuznetsov fired a shot from the left circle over Wedgewood's glove and into the top corner. Less than two minutes later, a bad change gave Kuznetsov a breakaway where he made no mistake in faking Wedgewood to the backhand before firing the forehand goal. Alexander Khokhlachev went crashing into the net and knocked into Wedgewood's head, pushing him back and knocking off his mask.

"I got to get some treatment now, but we'll see how I feel tomorrow," Wedgewood said. "Unfortunately, I couldn't see him coming so I couldn't brace myself."

Hay pulled Wedgewood after the goal, the fourth allowed on only 13 shots. Visentin was beat shortly after the goalie change then again in the third period after an offensive zone turnover created a three-on-one.

Canadian players became their own worst enemy after the Russians' fifth goal. Boone Jenner drew a penalty after taking a wicked elbow to the face by Ildar Isangulov. Once getting up, Kuznetsov confronted Jenner, who responded by spearing him. Jenner's night was over.

Later in the second period, Jonathan Huberdeau took a slashing penalty. Frustrated with an officiating crew that was calling anything and everything, Huberdeau slashed the boards and was given a 10-minute misconduct.

"It's hockey," Huberdeau explained, "I shouldn't take my 10 minutes. It's a selfish play and it's not the referee. I deserve it."

Dougie Hamilton got the comeback started with a tap-in goal on a pass from Mark Scheifele. Less than 30 seconds later, Schwartz banked a pass off a Russian defenceman and in.

Brendan Gallagher scored with eight minutes remaining, then Gormley scored the goal that chased Vasilevski. The Canadians came close to tying, as Ryan Strome pinged one off the post with less than a minute remaining.

"We didn't stop believing," Schwartz said. "We had a great final push, but you have to play 60 minutes. You can't just have a final push at the end. We battled back hard and we had chances to tie it up. It just didn't go in."

The Russians will play for gold against Sweden, who beat them in overtime in the final round robin game on Saturday. The Swedes defeated the Finns 3-2 in overtime in the earlier semifinal. Fans immediately picked a side for the final, chanting "Go Sweden Go" after the game.

The fans also booed Kuznetsov after he was named player of the game. He put his hand to his ear as if he couldn't hear them.

The Canadians have the disappointing result of playing for bronze for a nation that accepts nothing but gold.

"I think every game you play is worth playing for," Hay said. "It's an honour to win a medal when you're at this competition no matter what medal it is and our guys respect the fans and respect each other and I expect them to play hard for each other."