Canucks’ Garland scores twice as USA moves on to semifinal of IIHF World Championship

Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Zach Werenski maneuvers his way through the neutral zone and finds Utah Mammoth centreman Logan Cooley on the left wing. Cooley reaches out to maintain possession as the pass was just a little out of reach. Once he corrals the puck, he surveys the ice and sends a cross-ice saucer pass to Garland on the right wing. Garland takes his time and picks his spot on the far side to give his country an early lead.

The Finns would answer back just under 10 minutes later, when Seattle Kraken winger Eeli Tolvanen evened the game:

Both teams head into the first intermission tied at 1.

Finland would score again, but the goal was overturned due to goaltender interference:

However, not long after, they would score one that actually counted:

After a Frank Nazar holding penalty, his Chicago Blackhawks teammate Tuevo Teravainen passes the puck back and forth with Mikko Lehtonen, before walking down the half-wall and finding former Carolina Hurricanes draft pick Patrik Puistola in the bumper spot to give the Finns the lead.

Then, Minnesota Wild rookie defenceman Zeev Buium decides to take the game into his own hands:

Buium got tripped up by Puistola as he walked down the right wing. The rookie defenceman continued with the puck at the top of the zone, sending a pass to an American forward in the faceoff dot. The puck deflects off a skate in front, and Buium follows the play to bury the rebound and even up the game for the Americans.

According to the game log, the Puistola tripping penalty was upheld, sending the Americans back to the power play. This is where Garland found his second goal of the game:

Cooley takes the puck to the net front, which causes chaos, and Garland is the first one to the puck in the corner. He finds Buffalo Sabres centre Tage Thompson on the half-wall, who sends it back to Garland at the goal line. And as he’s done multiple times in Vancouver, Garland takes the puck to the net and has the puck deflected off his stick and up and over Saros to give the Americans back the lead.

Ottawa Senators centre Shane Pinto would add an insurance marker early in the third period. The Mammoth captain Clayton Keller would officially ice the game with an empty-netter with under three minutes to play. Garland’s second goal stood as the game-winner for the Americans.

Garland’s two-goal game earned him his second player of the game honours of the tournament. The Americans will have to wait to find out who their next opponent will be as the quarterfinals are reseeded. Expect them to play the higher of the two seeds in Group A.