Here is IIHF writer Lucas Aykroyd’s analysis of the Sweden-Finland and USA-Russia showdowns, along with his predictions.

Aykroyd picked the winners of 18 out of the 20 group games, plus all four quarter-finals. He has covered eight IIHF World Junior Championships, plus four Olympics and 16 IIHF World Championships. The predictions are the sole responsibility of the writer and do not reflect any official views of the IIHF.

SWEDEN-FINLAND (9:00am ET, Hartwall Arena)

Finland is coming off the euphoria of eliminating the defending champions, and will once again have a frenzied Hartwall Arena crowd on its side. But it’s hard to go to the emotional well two games in a row. The Finns will have to do that, while Sweden was clinical in its 6-0 dispatching of Slovakia. It’ll be a battle, but on paper, the blue-and-yellow squad is better-positioned to make the final.

Prediction- Sweden 5, Finland 3: Hosts’ weak PK opens door for Swedes, top Finnish line scores but not enough.

RUSSIA-USA (1:00pm ET, Hartwall Arena)

If there’s one hallmark of the post-Soviet Russian teams, it’s their unpredictability. You can never count them out in a situation like this, but it’s hard to tell what kind of team will show up today.

Including round-robin action, the Americans haven’t defeated Russia since 29 December, 2007, but their steady excellence in Helsinki has given them a great opportunity for revenge and a shot at their first gold since Ufa 2013.

Prediction- U.S. 3, Russia 2: Americans survive bursts of Russian pressure, Matthews delivers the goods again.

more on both games...

Both games are on NHL Network and TSN.