Sea Dogs to meet in WJC quarterfinal

IIHF

William Dufour and Team Canada will clash with Noah Patenaude, Vincent Despont and Team Switzerland in the quarterfinal round of the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship.

Dufour and the Canadians defeated Finland 6-3 on Monday to earn top spot in Group A. Dufour, who had several quality scoring chances in the game, scored into an empty net late in the third period to secure a Canada victory.

William Dufour gives Canada their 3 goal lead back with an empty netter! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/nI73dHhJyq

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 16, 2022

The New York Islanders prospect now has two goals and three assists in four games.

Earlier on Monday, Patenaude made 20 saves to help the Swiss defeat Austria 3-2 and grab a spot in the quarterfinals. Despont only had 6:29 of ice time and recorded one shot on net.

Attilio Biasca of the Halifax Mooseheads scored with 4:07 remaining in the third period to give Switzerland the win.

POWERPLAY GOAL! Attilio Biasca connects on the rebound to give @SwissIceHockey a 3-2 lead with a few minutes to go!#WorldJuniors #SUIAUT pic.twitter.com/FcbcjP3SlP

— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) August 15, 2022

Switzerland finished 1-3-0 in the preliminary round while Canada went 4-0-0-0. The Canadians will be the heavy favourites in Wednesday's quarterfinal match, which begins at 8 p.m.

The other quarterfinals have Finland facing Germany, Sweden taking on Latvia and the United States battling Czechia. The Latvians, who are without Sea Dogs forward Raivis Ansons, pulled off a surprising 5-2 win over Czechia on Sunday, which ultimately eliminated Slovakia. 

The semifinals take place Friday and the medal games on Saturday.