2015 World Junior Hockey Championships scores: Russia, Canada advance to gold medal game

Russia and Canada are all set for a gold medal rematch in the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championships after semifinal wins on Sunday.

Both countries took care of business in the semis to advance to the gold medal game, which will take place on Monday in Toronto. Russia dominated Sweden in a 54-1 win, while Canada took care of the plucky Slovakians in a 5-1 win.

The last time the two countries met in the gold medal games was in 2011, when the Russians stunned the Canadians with a huge third period comeback to earn a 5-3 win and the gold medal.

Russia 4, Sweden 1

The Russians played with the same intensity on Sunday as they had when they upset the Americans earlier in the quarterfinals. A quiet first period was followed by a heavier second by Russia, who opened the scoring with a goal from Alexander Sharov at 11:18.

Russia made it 2-0 shortly after when Ziat Paigin fired a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle past Swedish goalie Linus Soderstrom.

They didn't let up the offensive pressure for the rest of the game. Sharov got his second of the game just a minute into the third period when he skated through the slot and fired a puck past Soderstrom. Linus Wallmark managed to slim Sweden's deficit to 3-1 with his fourth goal of the tournament at 8:30, but Russia scored once again to clinch a 4-1 win.

Canada 5, Slovakia 1

The host country continued what has been a stellar tournament with a big win over the upstart Slovaks on Sunday. Slovakia managed to keep the game close for awhile before Canada turned on the afterburners and didn't look back.

Canada got an early power play four minutes into the first period, and Nic Petan capitalized with his second goal of the tournament to give his team a one goal lead.

Slovakia wasn't cowed. Instead, they buckled down and kept the Canadians within arms length until the waning minutes of the second period. At that point, the goals began flowing.

Canadian captains Curtis Lazar and Connor McDavid assisted on Petan's second of the night at 18:06 of the second. Less than a minute later, Shea Theodore scored to give Canada a commanding 3-0 lead.

But Slovakia continued to make things interesting. Just 25 seconds after Theodore's goal, David Soltes scored with three seconds left in the period to make it 3-1 heading into the final frame. Both teams had combined for three goals in 1:54.

But Canada finished things off in the third with goals from Anthony Duclair and Nic Petan to clinch a 5-1 win.