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UFA, Russia - A quick look at sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½'s semifinal game against the United States on Thursday at the world junior men's hockey championship:

PLAYERS TO WATCH

sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½'s captain is the best playmaker in the tournament.

Malcolm Subban — Looked shaky early on, but the Belleville Bulls goaltender stepped up his game for the medal round.

Ryan Strome — If the U.S. contains the Nugent-Hopkins line, the second-line centre will need to score.

United States

Jacob Trouba — Winnipeg Jets prospect generates a lot of offence from the U.S. back end.

John Gibson — sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ may have a book on the U.S. goalie because he plays for coach Steve Spott, but he gave up only two goals on 37 shots in their round-robin game.

Seth Jones — Top NHL draft prospect difficult to beat with his range and long reach.

KEYS TO THE GAME

United States — Get another game out of Gibson like they did in their 2-1 loss to sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ in pool play. Use speed through the neutral zone to pressure sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½'s defence.

sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ — Get game legs back immediately. sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ will have all 13 forwards for this game which should make for more even-strength scoring chances.