Finland bounced back, Sweden blanked Germany, Switzerland held off Latvia and Czechia blew out Austria in an action-packed day at the World Juniors.
Day 2 of the World Junior Championship featured intriguing matchups that could wind up being significant factors in the final group standings, especially after a couple of massive upsets on Day 1.
The day started with Finland looking for redemption after being upset by the Swiss on Monday. Playing the Slovaks, the Finns found a way to come out hot and weathered the storm as Slovakia pushed toward the end of the game. Sweden, the only dominant team on Boxing Day, kept their strong play against a German squad that doesn’t quite feature the high-end talent we’ve seen from them the last couple of years. The biggest issue for Sweden today was that the German goaltender was outstanding behind a porous defense.
The second half of the day also features a couple of key matchups. Switzerland and Latvia played a tight game, building off their strong Day 1 performances. Switzerland prevailed, putting them in a prime position in the group regarding quarterfinal matchups. Czechia took on Austria a day after defeating the host Canadians and continued their strong play, securing a 9-0 win.
Finland Wakes Up Against Slovakia
After being upset by the Swiss on Monday, The Finns were in must-win territory already on Day 2. The reality is that they will likely face a challenging quarterfinal game because of their loss on Monday, but a second straight loss could mean disaster for the Finns. Thankfully, the loss hit them like a strong cup of coffee, and the team got their game in gear.
Coming out of the gate strong, the Finns recorded the first eight shots on goal and scored the first goal on a nice one-timed shot from in tight as the Finns worked the puck out of the corner. Slovakia woke up after the goal against and found a way to tie the game late in the period.
The second period was where the Finns really took advantage of their chances, scoring on three of their seven shots in the frame. Either side didn’t really dominate the play, but Finland’s talent found ways to find twine. First, it was Joakim Kemell with a booming one-timer from the high slot to take the lead. Next, Oliver Kapanen scored a slick wrap-around goal, and then Jani Nyman tallied another on the power play with a big blast of his own. After 40, the Finns seemed to be in control of the contest despite the shot differential and flow of play seeming to be pretty even.
An early power play in the third period helped the Slovak team pull within two goals, as Peter Repcik scored his second of the game with the man advantage. The Finns quickly restored the lead, though. Brad Lambert, a Winnipeg Jets first-rounder, walked in and beat the Slovak netminder clean from a sharp angle to put a stamp on the Finns’ victory.
Sweden Looks Strong Once Again in a 1-0 Win Over Germany
The Swedes looked dominant in a win over Austria on Monday, and they came out swinging again against the Germans. Dominating the shot share throughout the game, the Swedes looked strong again in their second preliminary game.
The first period was competitive, with action at both ends of the ice. The Germans had some chances of their own, but the only team to find the back of the net was the Swedes. In the final minute of play, Adam Engstrom collected the puck off the faceoff and threaded a shot through traffic that eventually squeaked across the goal line. It was initially thought to be deflected by Isak Rosen, but Engstrom was ultimately credited with the marker.
The second period was when the Swedes took control of the game. They had chance after chance and bombarded the Germans at times. The biggest moments of the period came towards the end of the frame as the Germans had two men in the box and needed to kill off the penalties if they had any hope of coming back from the one-goal deficit. Thanks to some key defensive plays by the German defenders and some big saves by Nikita Quapp in net, the Germans stayed within one.
The Germans pushed back in the third period. Victor Sjoholm took a penalty to give Germany a power play less than 30 seconds into the frame, but the Swedes managed to kill that off. Late in the period, the Swedes committed a too many men on the ice infraction, giving the Germans another power play. The Swedes took care of that as well. The Germans outshot the Swedes in the final frame but never found a way to beat Swedish netminder Carl Lindbom, who made 28 saves for the shutout.
Switzerland Survives Latvia in the Shootout
The matchup between the Swiss – who upset the Finns on Day 1 – and the Latvians, who scared the Americans, was competitive. It ultimately took 14 shooters in the shootout to conclude. The Swiss picked up another win, albeit another win that required extra time, in an effort to finish near the top of Group B.
After trading goals in an evenly fought first frame, Switzerland and Latvia were looking to gain an edge in the second period. Although the Swiss dictated much of the play in the period, Latvia seemed to find space at times to generate chances. A little room was all it took as the Latvians took a one-goal lead midway through the second frame.
Darels Dukurs found the loose puck in front after a point shot created a rebound and managed to chip it around the Swiss netminder in tight. The Latvians were playing the feisty hockey that we’ve seen from them in the last couple of tournaments, and it was paying off. Heading into the intermission up 2-1, the game was going about as well as they could have hoped.
The final 20 minutes was when the Swiss seemed to take over. Latvia went into a shell a bit, hoping to defend the one-goal lead, and they became incapable of generating offense. They managed just one shot in the frame, and Switzerland controlled play in a major way, just as they had done for large swings throughout the game.
Lian Bichsel hit a crossbar halfway through the frame. The Swiss had begun to generate plenty of offensive chances. Attilio Biasca was creating for the Swiss team, and they were repeatedly coming up just short. That was until, with under two minutes to go and the goalie pulled, Rodwin Dionicio sent a blast to the net, beating the goalie and tying the game in the dying minutes.
Overtime solved nothing, so the two squads were off to a shootout. It wasn’t until the 11th shooter, Latvia’s Dans Locmelis, that a shooter beat a goalie. The only problem was that seconds later, Biasca answered for the Swiss. After a Latvian miss, Liekit Reichle called game with a shot from just below the hash marks. Switzerland survived the scare, and Latvia came up empty once again.
Czechia Dominates Austria
After upsetting Canada on Day 1, the Czech team got a bit of a break in facing the Austrians, who look like a prime relegation candidate. To say that Czechia maintained their momentum from Monday would be an understatement. They annihilated the Austrians, holding them to eight shots in a 9-0 win.
The onslaught began and never stopped with a power-play goal from Jakub Brabenec less than five minutes into the game. Jiri Kulich scored his first of three goals on the day. Stanislav Svozil and Matyas Sapovaliv had four assists on the day. Tomas Suchanek made eight saves for the shutout and added two assists for good measure.
Czechia had more goals than Austria had shots. Simply put, it was domination.
Czechia positions themselves as the top team in the group based on goal differential. Their next game will be on Dec. 29 against the similarly undefeated Swedes. This matchup will likely decide the top spot in Group A.
Three Stars
1st Star: Nikita Quapp, G, Germany
It’s not often that the losing goaltender of a game gets the first star, but the 44-save performance by Quapp kept Germany in the game from start to finish. The only goal he allowed was a point shot that hit a couple of bodies in front and squeaked by. Quapp made a big save after big save, including a key penalty shot from Bruins first-rounder Fabian Lysell in the second period and multiple key penalty kills. Although he was saddled with the L in this game, he deserved all of the love he received after this contest.
2nd Star: Carl Lindbom, G, Sweden
With 28 saves, Lindbom recorded his second shutout in two days. The Swedish netminder hasn’t allowed a goal at the world juniors, stopping all 41 shots he’s faced. The Vegas Golden Knights prospect has been crisp and smooth for Sweden and held the fort in a tight game against Germany. He hasn’t had to do anything spectacular yet, but sometimes, the quietest netminders are the ones that make the biggest difference.
3rd Star: Jiri Kulich, C, Czechia
The Czech squad has been the most impressive team in the tournament. Jiri Kulich was one of seven players who recorded a multi-point game, but his three goals led the team. He found the back of the net once in each period. While the first two goals came on big blasts on the power play, the third was the goal that truly iced the game eight seconds into the third period. Sneaking in behind the defense off the opening faceoff, Kulich beat the Austrian netminder in what felt like salt in the wounds.