Dmitri Lovetsky
Dmitri Lovetsky

Canada advances to semifinals at hockey worlds

Canada will face the United States in semifinal action at the 2016 IIHF World Hockey Championship on Saturday.

Canada advanced to the final four with a 6-0 quarterfinal victory over Sweden on Thursday. The Canadians, who finished the preliminary round with six wins and one loss, have now outscored opponents 40-8 at this year’s tournament.

Canada’s Max Domi, left, scores a goal to Sweden’s goalie Jacob Markstrom during the Hockey World Championships quarterfinal match between Canada and Sweden in St.Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, May 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Canada’s Max Domi, left, scores a goal to Sweden’s goalie Jacob Markstrom during the IIHF World Championship quarterfinal match between Canada and Sweden in St.Petersburg, Russia on on May 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Canada opened the scoring with 1:21 remaining in the first period when Ryan O’Reilly fired a point shot that was redirected by Mark Scheifele.

RELATED: Canada’s journey through the preliminary round

Matt Dumba put Canada up 2-0 with a power play goal 6:05 into the second period, rifling a shot past Swedish goaltender Jacob Markstom. Just under six minutes later, Brad Marchand put in a rebound to make it 3-0. Just 11 seconds after, Sam Reinhart fed Max Domi to quickly give Canada a 4-0 lead.

A quarter of the way into the third, Sweden had a five-on-three power play and pulled Markstrom, giving the Swedes a six-on-three advantage. Canada’s penalty kill delivered a strong performance to keep the shutout intact.

Canada’s Cody Ceci, right, fights for the puck with Sweden’s Johan Sundstrom during the Hockey World Championships quarterfinal match between Canada and Sweden in St.Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, May 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Canada’s Cody Ceci, right, fights for the puck with Sweden’s Johan Sundstrom during the IIHF World Championship quarterfinal match between Canada and Sweden in St.Petersburg, Russia, on May 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

With just under nine minutes to play, Mark Stone capitalized on a Sweden turnover to give Canada a 5-0 lead. Two minutes later, Derick Brassard jammed the puck past the pad of Markstrom to make it a 6-0 final.

Saturday’s other semifinal will feature Finland taking on Russia. The semifinal winners will play for gold on Sunday while the losers will play for bronze.