Canada will play for the bronze medal at the world junior hockey championship for a second straight year.

Team Canada fell 5-1 to the United States in Thursday's semifinal.

The Americans will play Sweden for gold on Saturday (Sat 5am pst) The defending champions advanced with a 3-2 shootout win over Russia, sending the host side into the third-place game against Canada. (Sat 1am pst).

"We came a long way and we still have an opportunity to get a medal,'' head coach Steve Spott said. ``It's not the colour we want, but we owe it to Canadian fans to come home with a medal.''

Canada won bronze last year when the tournament was held in Calgary and Edmonton.

Canada had most of the country's best 19-year-old players available to it this year because of the NHL lockout, with the exception of a defenceman and a forward lost to injury before the tournament.