FINLAND VS. RUSSIA

Finland comes into the game after securing  a 3-2 win Tuesday night against the  Czech Republic, with goals from Patrik Siikanen, Kaapo Kakko and Jesse Moilanen. Goaltender Justus Annunen tallied 22 saves for the win. 

Returning players from the 2017 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament  include: goaltender Justus Annunen (B); forwards Kim Nousiainen, Konsta Hirvonen, Ville Petman, Jesse Moilanen, Kristian Tanus (C), Arttu Nevasaari (C), Lenni Killinen (B) and Patrik Siikanen (C); and defenseman Lassi Thomson, Juuso Ketola (C), Anttoni Honka, Mikko Kokkonen, Peetro Seppälä, and Toni Utunen (C).

Russia will begin its tournament appearance with the game against Team Finland. Team Russia features nine players on the NHL Central Scouting “Players to Watch” list, including goaltender Amir Miftakhov (B); forwards Andrei Svechnikov (A), Alexander Zhabreyev (C), Alexander Khovanov (C), Kirill Marchenko (C), Ruslan Iskhakov (C), Daniil Isayev (C); and defensemen Bogdan Zhilyakov (C) and Danila Galenyuk (B). 

USA VS. CZECH REPUBLIC

The 7 p.m. ET time slot will be occupied by Team USA and the Czech Republic. 

Both teams played on Tuesday (Feb. 13), with Team USA recording a 5-1 win over Sweden while the Czech Republic fell to Finland, 3-2. 

The U.S. shutout the Czech Republic, 3-0, in the last meeting on Nov. 12 in the Fall 2017 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament in Hämeenlinna, Finland. Tyler Weiss (Raleigh, N.C.), Trevor Janicke (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Patrick Giles (Chevy Chase, Md.) all recorded goals while Drew DeRidder (Fenton, Mich.) made 23 saves to earn his first international shutout of the season.

Team USA’s roster features five of the Top-25 skaters from North America, including Oliver Wahlstrom (A) at No. 7, followed by Joel Farabee at No.11, Mattias Samuelsson (A) at No. 17, Patrick Giles (C) at No. 19 and Bode Wilde (A) at No. 22. Fourteen of Team USA’s 21-man roster are featured in the NHL Central Scouting “Players to Watch” List.

Czech Republic features 13 returners from its 2017 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament team, including goaltender Lukas Dostal (C); forwards Jan Matiasek, Vojtěch Kropáček, Jakub Lauko (C), Karel Plášek (C), Dominik Sklenář, Petr Čajka, Michal Kvasnica (C) and Vojtěch Střondala; and defensemen Vojtěch Doktor, Jakub Adámek (C), František Klejna and Jan Dluhoš.