United States center Auston Matthews and Finland right wing Patrik Laine, the projected top two picks at the 2016 NHL Draft, looked comfortable against NHL-caliber competition during the 2016 IIHF World Championship in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia.

Matthews (6-foot-1, 210 pounds), from Scottsdale, Ariz., is No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of international skaters for the 2016 draft, which will be held at First Niagara Center in Buffalo on June 24-25. He led the United States, which finished fourth, in goals (six) and power-play goals (three), and was tied for the lead with Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings) for points (nine) in 10 games. He had 28 shots on goal for a 21.43 shooting percentage, and he was named one of the United States' three best players of the tournament despite the 18-year-old being the youngest player on the roster. 

"I drew a lot [from the World Championship], and playing against some of the best NHL players in the world," Matthews told TSN. "There were some pretty high-quality players so I think it definitely challenged me to elevate my game, and it was pretty fun to be a part of."

Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers) scored the winning goal and Cam Talbot (Oilers) made 16 saves to lead Canada to its second consecutive gold medal with a 2-0 win against Finland at the 2016 IIHF World Championship at Ice Palace in Moscow on Sunday.

Matt Duchene (Colorado Avalanche) scored into an empty net with one second remaining and assisted on McDavid's goal in the first period. Talbot had his fourth shutout of the tournament. The Canadians, who won their record 26th World Championship, lost 4-0 to Finland in a Group B preliminary game Tuesday.

Sergei Mozyakin and Artemi Panarin (Chicago Blackhawks) each had two goals and an assist leading Russia to a 7-2 win against the United States in the bronze-medal game at the 2016 IIHF World Championship at Ice Palace in Moscow on Sunday.

Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings) had three assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets) made 28 saves. Russia earns a medal at the World Championship for the third straight year but felt it underachieved by not reaching the gold-medal game.

"I've got mixed feelings about the tournament," Bobrovsky told the IIHF website. "We were under a lot of pressure, and there was great expectation around us. It feels like we lost even though we came out with a medal."

MOSCOW -- Unbeaten Finland will look to become the first team to win gold at the World Under-18, World Juniors and World Championship in the same year when it faces defending champion Canada in the gold-medal game of the 2016 IIHF World Championship on Sunday (12:45 p.m. ET).

Finland (9-0) is tied for second with 37 goals and has allowed a tournament-low eight goals. Finland is also the only team to defeat Canada (8-1) in the tournament, winning 4-0 on Tuesday in the final game of the round-robin preliminary round.

Ryan Ellis scored the game-winning goal at 1:34 of the third period, lifting Canada to a 4-3 victory against the United States in the semifinals of the 2016 IIHF World Championship on Saturday at the Ice Palace in Moscow.

"It was a mini two-on-one, and I figured I'd just shoot it," Ellis (Nashville Predators) told TSN about his game-winner. "Fortunately for us it went in."

Cam Talbot (Edmonton Oilers) stopped 30 shots for Canada, which will try to win its 26th world championship Sunday against Finland (12:45 p.m. ET).

Carolina Hurricanes prospect Sebastian Aho scored two power-play goals to lead Finland to a 3-1 comeback victory against Russia in the semifinal of the 2016 IIHF World Championship at Ice Palace in Moscow on Saturday.

Finland plays the winner of the other semifinal between the United States and Canada in the final on Sunday at Ice Palace on Sunday (1:15 p.m. ET).

MOSCOW -- Round 2 of Connor McDavid vs. Auston Matthews is upon us.

McDavid (Edmonton Oilers) and Canada will take on Matthews (2016 draft eligible) and the United States in the semifinals of the 2016 IIHF World Championship at Ice Palace here on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; NBC Sports Live Extra, TSN, RDS).

Auston Matthews scored in regulation and had the game-deciding goal in the shootout to give the United States a 2-1 victory against the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals of the 2016 IIHF World Championship at Yubileiny Arena in Moscow, Russia.

Matthews, No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of international skaters for the 2016 NHL Draft, leads the U.S. with five goals and eight points in eight games.

Keith Kinkaid (New Jersey Devils) made 31 saves through overtime, then stopped Lukas Kaspar, Petr Koukal and Tomas Zohorna in the shootout.

The U.S. will play Canada, which defeated Sweden, in the semifinals on Saturday. Canada beat the U.S. 5-1 in the tournament opener for each team on May 6.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- United States center Auston Matthews hasn't played an NHL game, but he's making an impression on some players he could be competing with or against as soon as the 2016-17 season during the 2016 IIHF World Championship. 

Matthews scored the game-deciding goal in the shootout to give the United States a 2-1 win against the Czech Republic in Moscow on Thursday, a victory that propelled the U.S. into the semifinals. He leads the U.S. with five goals and eight points in eight games, and has worked his way up the lineup. On Thursday he centered the top line flanked by left wing Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings) and right wing Nick Foligno (Columbus Blue Jackets).

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- The international hockey stage has not been kind to Germany over the years, particularly when it comes to the IIHF World Championship.

The last time a German team medaled in the tournament was 1953, when West Germany won the silver. That followed bronze medals for Germany in 1932 and 1934.

Germany hasn't even reached the World Championship quarterfinals since 2011, but that absence will end Thursday at the 2016 IIHF World Championship. After finishing third in Group B with 13 points, Germany, led by goaltender Thomas Greiss (New York Islanders), will face host Russia at Ice Palace in Moscow for a chance to compete for a medal.