Watch Team USA vs. Russia Hockey Live Online: Start Time, Streaming Video For 2017 World Junior Championship Semifinal

Hockey fans can watch the Team USA vs. Russia game live online and see which country can advance to the finals of the 2017 World Junior Championship.

The teams are set to face off Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET from the Bell Centre in Montreal in the tournament’s semifinal round. The match will be broadcast in Canada on the NHL Network and will also be available live online for those unable to make it to a television (a link to the streaming video can be found below).

There will be a lot on the line beyond a chance to raise the trophy at this year’s tournament, NJ.com noted. Fans will also get a chance to see some future NHL stars, with the United States led by top prospects Luke Kunin, Kieffer Bellows, and Clayton Keller. The Russian team is stocked as well, led by prospects Kirill Kaprizov, Yegor Rykov, and Danila Kvartalnov.

For the United States, the game could give the team a chance to win its first gold medal since 2013. As NJ.com noted, the team has been rolling through the tournament, beating Russia 3-2 in the preliminary round and holding off Switzerland in the quarterfinals for a 3-2 win. Team USA hasn’t trailed at any point in the tournament.

But the players on Team USA know that it will be quite a difficult task trying to beat Russia for the second time.

Jeremy Bracco, who had a goal and an assist in the quarterfinal win, told the Associated Press that the team has struggled against Russia in past tournaments.

“You know what they say, to beat a team twice in a tournament’s hard,” said the Toronto Maple Leas prospect. “But we’re looking forward to that. Russia’s had the U.S.’s number in the last couple tournaments and international events, so we’re hoping to avenge that.”

Fans who watch the Team USA vs. Russia hockey game live online will also see a Russian team rolling. They defeated Denmark 4-0 in the quarterfinal, with Kirill Kaprizov scoring twice to pass Sweden’s Alex Nylander for the lead in points (10) at the under-20 tournament, ESPN noted.

It was an all-around dominant performance for the Russian team, ESPN added.

“Alexander Polunin and Pavel Karnaukhov had the other Russian goals while Washington Capitals prospect Ilya Samsonov turned aside 14 shots for his second shutout of the tournament. Philadelphia Flyers draft pick Mikhail Vorobyov had two assists in the win and now leads the tournament with eight assists.”

The winner of the Team USA vs. Russia match will go on to face the winner of the Team Canada vs. Sweden match, which starts at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Fans who watch the Team USA vs. Russia hockey game online may be among the only ones to actually see it play out live. High ticket prices and what is seen as a poor marketing effort have led to largely empty stadiums for the matches so far. After the 2015 tournament in Toronto faced similar problems, Hockey Canada officials are coming under fire.

“We attempted to adjust our ticket price, specifically in Montreal, maybe more so than (in Toronto),” Hockey Canada president and COO Scott Smith told reporters last week (via Yahoo Sports). “There are some other games quite frankly that we had hoped to have a larger audience at.”

But as Yahoo Sports noted, it’s not working.

“Whatever the tweaking, Hockey Canada hasn’t learned from 2015. Tickets are still being sold at exorbitant prices for junior games. This time, however, attendance in Toronto was equally as bad, and it appears world junior fatigue might finally be setting in amongst the ticket-buying public.”

Viewers who want to watch the Team USA vs. Russia hockey game live online can click here for live-streaming video from TSN.

[Featured Image by Claus Andersen/Getty Images]