Team Canada defeated Team Finland in their first game of the preliminary round

On Thursday at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, the World Junior Championship began its preliminary round on day one.

And the final matchup of the evening included three Pittsburgh Penguins' prospects.

Team Canada defeated Team Finland, 4-0, on Thursday evening, and Tanner Howe (Canada), Emil Pieniniemi (Finland), and Kalle Kangas (Finland) were all held pointless on the evening.

Howe - Pittsburgh's 46th overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NHL draft - led either team in penalty minutes with four. 

Canada was led to victory on goals by Gavin McKenna, Easton Cowen, Luca Pinelli, and an empty-net tally by Matthew Schaefer with just 19 seconds remaining in the game. Goaltender Carter George put up a 31-save shutout for Team Canada.

Earlier in the evening, Sweden beat Slovakia, 5-2, USA defeated Germany, 10-4, and the Czech Republic bested Switzerland, 5-1. 

Pieniniemi, Kangas, and the rest of Team Finland will take on Germany at 3:30 p.m. ET on Friday afternoon, and later on in the evening for Howe and Team Canada will be Latvia at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Team USA's next tilt will come against Latvia on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 3:30 p.m. ET.