2023 World Juniors daily: Dec. 29

Canada is back in action Thursday while Czechia meets Sweden in a huge Group A clash on Day 4 of the 2023 World Juniors.

Day 4 schedule:

Latvia vs. Finland — 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT
Sweden vs. Czechia — 1:30 p.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. PT
USA vs. Switzerland — 4 pm ET / 1 p.m. PT
Austria vs. Canada — 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT

The day ahead:

It’s a pivotal day at the 2023 World Juniors as teams battle for position with an eye on the quarterfinals.

Finland currently sit second in Group B after a win over Slovakia coupled with an overtime loss to Switzerland as they get set to face Latvia in Moncton. Latvia sit fifth in the group after they collected a point in a shootout defeat to Switzerland Tuesday.

The second contest of the day sees Czechia face Sweden in crucial Group A matchup. The Czechs and Swedes are the only perfect teams left in the tournament as they have two regulation wins each. Czechia have beaten Canada and Austria while Sweden shutout both Austria and Germany. A Czechia win will all but guarantee they win the group but a Swedish victory, coupled with the fact that they face Canada in their final pool game, could make for an interesting conclusion to the round-robin.

The USA look to rebound against Group B leaders Switzerland after they fell to Slovakia Wednesday. The Swiss have an overtime and a shootout win to lead the group with four points while the Americans sit fourth with a 1-1-0 record.

In the day’s final game, Canada will look to make it back-to-back wins as they face Austria. Canada dominated Germany and will look to do the same against an Austrian team that has given up 20 goals in two games.

Day 3 results: 

Slovakia 6-3 USA
Canada 11-2 Germany

About yesterday:

Slovakia, who shockingly failed to reach the quarterfinals at the 2022 tournament, stunned the USA after a 6-3 win in Moncton. Robert Baco (MJ), Filip Mesar (KIT) and Peter Repcik (CHA) all scored for Slovakia who have to face Latvia and Switzerland in their final two pool games.

Tyler Boucher (OTT) had a pair of power play goals for the USA in defeat.

After Canada were beaten by Germany Monday, they responded in impressive fashion as they put 11 past Germany.

Connor Bedard was simply sensational as he recorded a hat-trick and four assists to become just the fifth Canadian player in World Juniors history to tally seven points after Dave Andreychuk (1983), Brenden Morrow (1999), Mike Cammalleri (2002) and Gabriel Bourque (2010).

Not to be forgotten, Dylan Guenther also had a hat-trick while Olen Zellweger (EVE) had three assists. Logan Stankoven (KAM) had three points (1G, 2A) while Brandt Clarke, Joshua Roy (SHE) and Shane Wright all had a goal and an assist. Thomas Milic (SEA) made 14 saves to get the win.

Who to watch: 

Frankly, Canada are expected to score with ease against Austria so with that in mind, we’ll look at Czechia’s David Spacek (SHE).

The Minnesota Wild prospect leads the World Juniors in goals scored by a defenceman with two while his four points trails only teammate Stanislav Svozil (REG).

Defensively, he’ll have to contain a Swedish side that has scored 12 goals in its first two games.

CHL leaders: 

Where to watch:

Canada’s tilt with Austria can be seen live on TSN 4 while Latvia versus Finland and Sweden against Czechia will be shown on TSN 1/3/5. The USA and Switzerland is on TSN 3/5.