KULICH, ROSEN SQUARE-OFF IN WORLD JUNIORS SEMI-FINALS
Jan 3, 2023Rochester Americans forwards Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen will square-off in one of the IIHF World Junior semifinal matchups on Wednesday afternoon. Kulich, who is representing Czechia, tallied four points (2+2) in the quarterfinal game on Monday.
Kulich has now scored five goals in five games in Halifax, including a hat trick against Austria. His five goals puts him in a five-way tie for second place in goal-scoring at the tournament. Connor Bedard, representing Canada, leads with eight goals.
Czechia ranks first among all teams at the tournament in scoring efficiency: they have tallied 33 goals for on 191 shots on goal. Those 33 goals are tied with Canada in most goals for at the tournament so far.
“I don’t care, I’m here to play for the team, try to be a leader,” Kulich said during the second intermission on Monday night. “We are like one guy, so that’s our key.”
On the other side of the semifinal matchup is Rosen, who is representing Sweden. Rosen has recorded two goals and two assists in his five games of the tournament, including the game-winning goal in Sweden’s first game against Austria.
Sweden owns the tournament’s best penalty kill, allowing only one power-play goal against in 18 penalty kills. Sweden also leads the tournament in goaltending, with their netminders achieving a 94.19% save percentage.
Sweden just barely edges out Czechia in both of those categories, so the semi-final matchup is sure to be an exciting one. When the two teams faced off during the preliminary round, Sweden beat Czechia in overtime 3-2.
You can watch the semifinal game on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NHL Network. The winner advances to the gold medal game, to play the winner of USA vs Canada, on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. ET. The bronze medal game will be played Thursday at 2:30.p.m. ET.
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We wish both Rosen and Kulich good luck, and we hope they bring home the hardware when they return to Rochester this weekend.