Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen and goalie Calvin Pickard helped their respective teams, Finland and Canada, advance to the IIHF World Championship semifinals Thursday in Cologne, Germany.

Rantanen knocked in a rebound for a second-period power-play goal in Finland's 2-0 win against the United States in a quarterfinal game.

Pickard made 19 saves in Canada's 2-1 win against Germany.

Finland will play Sweden, which defeated Switzerland 3-1, in a semifinal game Saturday. Canada will play Russia, which defeated the Czech Republic 3-0, in the other semifinal.

Joonas Kemppainen also scored for Finland and goalie Harri Sateri made 26 saves to eliminate the Americans, who won six consecutive preliminary games to finish atop Group A.

Avalanche forward J.T. Compher had one shot in 6:40 of ice time for the U.S. while playing on the fourth line. He finished the tournament with two goals in eight games.

Rantanen, who had four shots in 18:54, has eight points (three goals, five assists) in eight games.

Mark Scheifele and Jeff Skinner scored for Canada. Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene were held off the scoresheet. MacKinnon had five of Canada's 50 shots in 15:43 and has 5-7-12 in eight games. Duchene had one shot in 15:18 and has one goal in eight games.

Pickard has gone 4-1 with one shutout, a 1.38 goals-against average and .935 save percentage in the tournament.

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog had four shots in 16:19 for Sweden and has 2-3-5 in eight games. Carl Soderberg had one shot in 6:04 and has one assist in eight games.

Defenseman Andrei Mironov, who has signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Avalanche, didn't dress for Russia. He has one goal in five games.

*****

The Colorado Eagles, the Avalanche's ECHL affiliate, have taken a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals against the Toledo Walleye.

Games 4 and 5 will be played Friday and Saturday at the Eagles home, the Budweiser Events Center.

Avalanche draft picks defenseman Sergei Boikov and forward Julien Nantel scored goals Wednesday in Colorado's 4-3 overtime win.

The 6-feet-2, 200-pound Boikov was the Avalanche's sixth-round pick (No. 161) in the 2015 NHL draft. He has has 1-3-4 and six penalty minutes in 12 playoff games.

The 6-0, 193-pound Nantel has 6-3-9 and four penalty minutes in 14 games. He was the Avalanche's seventh-round pick (No. 204) in 2014.

Mason Geertsen, a 6-4, 215-pound defenseman, has 1-3-4 and 29 penalty minutes in 13 games. He was Colorado's fourth-round pick (No. 93) in 2013.



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