Colorado Avalanche

MacKinnon, Pickard spark Canada
May 20, 2017, 6:55 PM ET [3 Comments]
Rick Sadowski
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Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist in the third period Saturday to help propel Canada to a 4-2 come-from-behind win against Russia in Cologne, Germany for a berth in the IIHF World Championship gold medal game against Sweden on Sunday.

The Swedes knocked off Finland 4-1 in their semifinal game.

The Canada-Sweden game is set for 2:45 p.m. ET after Russia and Finland play for the bronze medal at 10:15 a.m. ET. Both games will be televised by the NHL Network. The Canadiens are seeking their third consecutive gold medal.

Canada scored four third-period goals to stun Russia, which built a 2-0 lead through two periods.

"It was exciting,” Avalanche goalie Calvin Pickard, who made 26 saves, told reporters. “Our backs were against the wall going into the third period, and we just regrouped and came out and played our game. Everybody in the building saw it. It was a pretty good clinic, for sure.”

MacKinnon fed Mark Scheifele for a power-play goal 17 seconds into the third to begin the comeback.

MacKinnon and Buffalo's Ryan O'Reilly scored 1:51 apart to put Canada ahead 3-2. MacKinnon scored his sixth goal of the tournament at 15:07 and O'Reilly followed at 16:58.

Philadelphia's Sean Couturier sealed the win when he scored into an empty net with 1:07 to play.

"It's better than winning a blowout or a soft game," MacKinnon said. "We came back, we had some adversity, and it didn't stop us. So regardless of what happens (Sunday), we're going to keep pressing and we're really excited."

Washington's Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nikita Gusev scored for Russia.

Canada outshot Russia 19-5 in the third period and 38-28 for the game.

MacKinnon, who had four shots in 15:12 of ice time, has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in nine games. Matt Duchene had one shot in 12:17; he has one goal in nine games.

Pickard has gone 5-1 with one shutout, a 1.48 goals-against average and .934 save percentage.

Russia scratched Avalanche draft pick Andrei Mironov for the fourth game in a row.

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Toronto's William Nylander had a goal and an assist for Sweden.

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, who had three shots in 18:53 for Sweden, has five points (two goals, three assists) in the tournament. Colorado teammate Carl Soderberg didn't dress.

Mikko Rantanen had one shot in 16:50 for Finland. He has eight points (three goals, five assists) overall.

"I don't think we played well enough to win," Rantanen said. "We know Sweden has a really good team, and we needed to play our best. We didn't. The better team won."