The World Championship officially started on Friday, and two of the Montreal Canadiens organization's three participating members were in action. Prospect Vinzenz Rohrer was in action with Austria while Emil Heineman was playing with Sweden.

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The pressure is on for the Swedes this year. Not only did they win the bronze medal last time around, but they also co-hosted the tournament with Denmark and want to be crowned World Champions at home.

The Tre Konor were flawless in their first game. Taking on a Slovakian side that definitely could have used Juraj Slafkovsky, the host scored five goals and blanked their opponent. The Habs’ sole representative on the Swedish team, Emil Heineman, got the primary assist on the game's first goal with a perfectly timed feed on a two-on-one, which allowed Mikael Backlund to give the Swedes a 1-0 lead.

It ended up being the game-winning goal since the Slovaks could not put a single puck past Jacob Markstrom on 15 shots. The New Jersey Devils netminder smothered every attack to get his team the three points.

Five different scorers found the back of the net during the game: Backlund, as mentioned above, Leo Carlsson, Jonas Brodin, Elias Lindholm, and Mika Zibanejad. The Canadiens’ former rookie saw 12:24 of action in 18 shifts and finished the game with a plus-two rating.

As for Vinzenz Rohrer, the Austrian side suffered a 2-1 loss to Finland, but the youngster played well and saw 17:29 of action in 21 shifts. The 20-year-old forward wasn’t on the ice for any of the goals scored and played a solid game.

Both members of the Canadiens’ organization will be back in action on Saturday morning at 10:20 ET when they face off in another Group A tilt, just after Mike Matheson makes his debut playing for Canada against Slovenia.

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