games of day 1
Czechia 5, Canada 2 — jaroslav chmelar (New York Rangers) and Matous Mensik (2023 draft eligible) scored power-play goals 33 seconds apart in the second period to open the game in a Pool A game at the Scotiabank Center.
It was the Czech Republic’s second win against Canada, and first by regulation, in 24 games at the World Youth Championship, including a 5-4 shootout win at the 2014 tournament.
david spacek (Minnesota Wild) and Stanislav Svozil (Columbus Blue Jackets) each scored a goal and an assist for the Czech Republic. Tomas Suchanek (eligible for the 2023 draft) made 36 saves and had one assist.
“It’s unreal,” Svozil said. “This was just the first game of the tournament, and we knew we had to win two games to qualify. [for the playoffs]so this is good. When we got that fifth goal and they only had two, we felt like we were in control.”
shane wright (Seattle Kraken) and Connor Bedard, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft, scored for Canada. Benjamin Gaudreau (San Jose Sharks) allowed five goals on 16 shots before being replaced in the second quarter by Thomas Milic (2023 draft-eligible), who made 11 saves.
It marks the first time Canada has lost its first game at the Junior World Cup since a 6-4 loss to the United States in 2016.
‘They outclassed us’, Canada striker brennan othman (New York Rangers) said. “You can’t take any team lightly. They had a good game, so I give them credit. It’s a learning curve. They say you win or you learn, and tonight was learning.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of hype about our team, but at the same time, you want to win especially with this incredible crowd. Now we have to recover in two days. It doesn’t hurt to go through a game like this.” All the teams do it. It’s good for us and a bit humiliating.”
Canada pulled within 3-2 on Bedard’s goal at 1:29 of the second half, but went ahead zach dean (Vegas Golden Knights) was penalized a greater than five minutes and game misconduct for an illegal check to the head at 4:21.
On the ensuing power play, Chmelar hit a loose puck in the box to make it 4-2 at 8:14, and then Mensik skated down the left side and found space between Gaudreau’s blocker and the post to put the ball in. 5-2 at 8:47.
Wright scored on a power play to give Canada a 1-0 lead at 10:33 of the first period.
Spacek went down and scored from the back door after receiving a pass from Svozil to tie it 1-1 at 17:48, and then David Moravec, who plays for Halifax of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, put the Czechia up 2-1 at 18:23. .
Szovil extended it 3-1 with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle 44 seconds into the second.
The Czech Republic plays Austria on Tuesday (6:30 pm ET). Canada plays Germany on Wednesday (6:30 pm ET).
United States 5, Latvia 2 — Sean Behren (Colorado Avalanche) and savage of redmond (Detroit Red Wings) each had a goal and an assist in a Group B game at the Avenir Centre.
Jimmy Snuggerud (St. Louis Blues), pike chaz (Winnipeg Jets) and luke hughes (New Jersey Devils) each scored, and Trey Augustine (2023 draft eligible) made 15 saves.
Anri Ravinskis (eligible for the 2023 draft) and Niks Fenenko (eligible for the 2023 draft) scored for Latvia. Patricks Berzins (eligible for the 2023 draft) made 41 saves.
The USA opened the game with three goals in the third period.
“We settled in for the third and played with more character,” USA coach Rand Pecknold said. “I thought the first two quarters we were nervous and made a couple of mistakes that ended up in the back of the net. But we had a lot of chances so we just talked about letting our character come through in the third.”
Lucius skated through the slot and beat Berzins with a backhand to make it 3-2 in 1:57.
Savage extended it 4-2 at 6:48 when he scored on the rebound of a shot from dylan duke (Tampa Bay Lightning).
Hughes, the US captain, scored from the spot to make it 5-2 at 13:29.
Snuggerud gave the USA a 1-0 lead 24 seconds into the second period when he hit a loose puck in the box.
Ravinskis tied it at 4:59, ending a back-and-forth with the Rainers Rullers (2023 draft-eligible).
Behrens gave the USA a 2-1 lead at 9:17 when he connected on a point pass from Savage.
Latvia tied the game with Fenenko’s goal at 14:24 via a screen.
“We’re not proud that we lost, but we gave them a good fight,” Ravinskis said. “So it was a good game. We made some mistakes, especially the third period wasn’t the best. But still, we’re going to keep our heads up and get ready for the next game.”
Latvia plays Switzerland on Tuesday (4 pm ET). The United States takes on Slovakia on Wednesday (4 pm ET).
Switzerland 3, Finland 2 (OT) — Attilio Biasca (eligible for the 2023 draft) scored 41 seconds into extra time for Switzerland in a Group B game at the Avenir Centre.
Lian Bichsel (Dallas Stars) pulled the puck out of traffic in the right corner of the Finland zone and passed it to Biasca, who scored from the right faceoff circle.
“Two guys were fighting in the corner,” Biasca said. “I was a little high, and then Bichsel made a great play on me. I tried to shoot and it worked.”
Lorenzo Canonica (eligible for the 2023 draft) and Jeremy Jabola (eligible for the 2023 draft) also scored for Switzerland. Kevin Pasche (eligible for the 2023 draft) made 14 saves.
Kalle Vaisanen (New York Rangers) had a goal and an assist for Finland and Konsta Kapanen (eligible for the 2023 draft) scored. Aku Koskenvuo (Vancouver Canucks) made 24 saves.
‘I thought we played afraid to win’, Finland striker brad lambert (Winnipeg Jets) said. “We weren’t attacking enough. We didn’t win enough 1v1 battles. We didn’t have enough puck. We just didn’t play fast enough. We’re faster than them, but we played too.” slow, too careful, and it cost us”.
Kapanen gave Finland a 1-0 lead at 2:24 of the second half when he scored on the rebound of a Vaisanen shot before Canonica equalized at 12:54 on a shot from the slot.
Jabola put Switzerland ahead 2-1 at 4:43 of the third period when he slotted a loose puck into the slot.
Vaisanen tied the game at 8:09 when he took the puck off the wall, sliced into the slot and beat Pasche.
Each team plays on Tuesday, Finland against Slovakia (11 am), Switzerland against Latvia (4 pm ET).
Sweden 11, Austria 0 — Sweden scored six goals in the second half of their Group A match at the Scotiabank Centre.
Isak Rosen (buffalo sabers) and Philip Bystedt (San Jose Sharks) each scored two goals and one assist, and Fabian Wagner (Winnipeg Jets) had a goal and two assists. carl lindbom (Vegas Golden Knights) made 13 saves and had one assist.
“We tried to pay attention to the little things and not play with the attitude that things would be easy for us, to play the game like any other game,” Bystedt said. “We have a lot of skill and attacking players. We have a good combination with our defensive game as well. I think we can attack and score goals and go far in the tournament.”
Thomas Pfarrmaier (2023 draft-eligible) allowed six goals on 23 shots before being replaced in the second period by Benedikt Oschgan (2023 draft-eligible) who made 17 saves on 22 shots.
“I think our goal coming into this tournament was not to look at the scores, but to compete every night,” Austria forward Ian Scherzer (2023 draft-eligible) said. “We don’t have a set goal, except to do our best and see what happens. But today, we had a lot of breakdowns and we gave them too many scoring chances. We made it too easy for them.”
Rosen opened the scoring at 13:17 of the first half, and Bystedt made it 2-0 at 17:49 when he scored on the rebound of Rosen’s shot.
Sweden began their second period with a goal from Rosen 48 seconds into the period to make it 3-0.
simon robertsson (St. Louis Blues), jonathan lekkerimaki (Vancouver Canucks) liam ohgren (Minnesota Wild) Odelius street (New York Islanders) and Milton Oscarson (eligible for the 2023 draft), who had a short goal, also scored on the second.
Wagner scored on a 2-on-1 run to make it 9-0 at 2:45 of the third period, Bystedt scored on a power play goal at 4:06 and oskar pettersson (Ottawa Senators) closed the scoring at 1:50 p.m.
Each team plays on Tuesday, Sweden vs. Germany (1:30 pm ET), Austria vs. Czechia (6:30 pm ET).
quick links
Junior World Championship Predictions
Group A Preview
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tournament schedule
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