Podollan’s Two Scores Lift Canada

Two goals by Spokane Chiefs star Jason Podollan eased Canada past Russian on Wednesday and into the gold medal game of the World Junior Championships.

Canada, three-time defending champion, sent the Russians into the bronze medal round, 4-3.

Canada plays for the title today against Sweden, the 8-2 winner Wednesday night over the Czech Republic. Russia will play the loser for the bronze medal.

Many of hockey’s biggest names - including Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Pavel Bure - have played in this tournament, which brings together the world’s top players under the age of 20.

The U.S. team, which posted a 2-2 record in the round-robin portion, will play Finland today for fifth place.

Podollan, a 19-year-old center from Vernon, British Columbia, opened the scoring 8:41 into the first period.

Russia tied it at 11:24 on Alexei Morozov’s first goal. It stayed that way until Mike Watts made it 2-1 Canada 11:11 into the second.

Ninety-three seconds later, the Canadians mounted a rush that put four shots on Russian goalie Alexei Egorov from close range. Egorov, who had 24 saves, stopped the first three but left the rebound for Podollan, who made it 3-1.

Canadian goalkeeper Jose Theodore stopped 46 shots.

, DataTimes