J.T. Compher, Nick Bjugstad, Anders Lee and Andrew Copp gather after losing the Ice Hockey World Championships quarterfinal match between the United States and Finland in the LANXESS arena in Cologne, Germany, Thursday, May 18, 2017.Martin Meissner/The Associated Press
Finland defeated the United States 2-0 Thursday in the quarterfinals to knock Jeff Blashill's young roster out of the ice hockey world championship.
Mikko Rantanen and Joonas Kemppainen scored for Finland to end the Americans' six-game winning run as the Finns advanced to Saturday's semifinals.
Russia beat the Czech Republic 3-0 in their quarterfinal thanks to goals from Dmitri Orlov, Nikita Kucherov and Artemi Panarin in Paris.
Switzerland was to face Sweden later Thursday in Paris, while two-time champion Canada was taking on co-host Germany in Cologne.
Strong defence and a shut-out from Harri Sateri on his fourth start helped Finland surprise the U.S., which had beaten Russia to finish top of its group. The Americans outshot Finland by 26 to 20.
The Finns had the best chance early on when goaltender Jimmy Howard denied Juhamatti Aaltonen on a breakaway.
Anders Lee was penalized for tripping at the start of the second period and Rantanen scored on the power play at the third attempt after Howard twice saved.
Howard, who finished with 18 saves compared to Sateri's 26, produced another good block to deny Valtteri Filppula, but he was beaten by Kemppainen midway through the final period. Kemppainen swept the puck home after great interplay with Aaltonen.
Kevin Hayes, who was penalized for playing without a helmet at the start of the period, was then penalized again for slashing. Hopes of equalizing took another hit when Jack Eichel was sent to the box for high-sticking with less than two minutes remaining.
In Paris, Sergei Plotnikov set up Orlov and Kucherov swept in the Russians' second on a power play shortly afterward in the first period.
Overall, despite bossing possession, the Czechs were closed down well by the Russians, restricting their ability to get into good shooting positions. Russia wasn't dominating but it did look comfortable. Czech frustration was summed up when forward David Pastrnak's stick broke in half on a slap shot.
Panarin, the tournament's scoring leader, wrapped it up off Kucherov's cross-ice pass in the third. It was his fourth goal of the tournament and 14th point overall.