Should Team Canada be the favorites to win the World Junior Championship? Earlier today, St Louis Blues [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/] prospect and former member of the Sudbury Wolves Dalibor Dvorsky recorded four points in Slovakia's 5-4 overtime win against Kazakhstan at the World Junior Championship. Dvorsky scored the first two goals of the game giving Slovakia a 2-0 lead. By the end of the first period, Juraj Pekarcik added a goal of his own to make it 3-0 for Slovakia. Kazakhstan's response started in the second with a breakaway goal scored by Artur Gross. Shortly thereafter Pekarcik scored his second goal of the game to regain the three-goal lead for his team. Both of Dvorsky's assists came on Pekarcik's goals. However, Khazakstan once again found a response before the end of the period. Assanali Sarkenov, who was thrown out of the game in the third period, scored to make it 4-2. Slovakia ultimately won the game in overtime after Kazakhstan scored an unlikely pair of shorthanded goals in the third period to tie the game. The game was exciting from beginning to end featuring an improbable comeback and a dramatic finish. Kazakhstan showed resiliency and grit throughout the game ultimately winning a point. They could advance to the quarterfinals if they beat Switzerland tomorrow. After Slovakia's first game in the tournament, some felt Dvorsky hadn't done enough despite scoring the tournament's opening goal. After three games, his two goals and one assist left him at a point-per-game pace. His four points against Kazakhstan means he now has four goals and three assists at the end of the round-robin. Dvorsky is a bonefied scorer as evidenced by the 88 points he scored in 52 games with the Sudbury Wolves last season. Instead of returning to Sudbury this season, he joined the Springfield Thunderbirds in the AHL and has recorded 21 points in 27 games. This is Dvorsky's fourth appearance at the World Junior Championship playing for Slovakia. Over the course of his four appearances, Dvorsky has 18 points in 18 games at the tournament. A remarkable feat that very few players have equaled. Despite the criticism directed towards Dvorsky during the tournament his production in the AHL, OHL and the World Junior Championship paints the picture of a talented young forward who has scored at every level. It seems likely he will find himself playing for St. Louis in the big leagues sooner than later. Before that, he and Slovakia will look forward to the quarterfinals at the World Junior Championship. Their third-place finish in Group B means they will play whichever team finishes second in Group A.
