WJC 2015 Day 4 Recap
Monday December 29, 2014
With the preliminary round in full swing, the cream has begun to rise to the top as contenders try and secure favourable positions heading into the playoff round of the tournament that begins on Friday. Victories from Canada, Sweden, the United States and the Czech Republic all featured lots of fast paced action on Monday. Here’s a look at how things happened.
CANADA 4, FINLAND 1
The Canadian National Junior Team continues to impress, improving its record to 3-0 on Monday night with a 4-1 victory over the reigning gold medalists from Finland at the Bell Centre. Alternate Captain Sam Reinhart (Kootenay Ice) led the way with two goals while linemate Anthony Duclair (New York Rangers/Quebec Remparts) registered a goal and an assist. Goaltender Zachary Fucale (Quebec Remparts) was steady when called upon, making 27 saves, many of which came on quality scoring opportunities.
Reinhart scored the lone first period goal at 5:32, converting 10 seconds into Canada’s first powerplay of the night as he redirected Shea Theodore’s (Seattle Thunderbirds) point shot and banged in his own rebound. Fucale would provide timely saves off Artturi Lehkonen and Jesse Puljujarvi late in the first frame to preserve the 1-0 lead.
A Max Domi (London Knights) goal post five minutes into the second drew a loud reaction from the anxious Montreal crowd. Though Domi wasn’t able to beat the iron, he would help put one past Finnish goaltender Juuse Saros moments later. Domi connected with linemate Anthony Duclair off the rush as Duclair found Sam Reinhart screaming down the middle for a quick redirect to make it 2-0 at 13:34.
The Finns would get within one to close out the second as captain Artturi Lehkonen drew a rebound off the pads of Fucale and proceeded to tap in the rebound as he walked out of the corner at 18:26.
Domi got in on the action again in the third period, forcing Saros into a pad save to create a rebound for a waiting Duclair at 11:15 to give Canada some insurance with a 3-1 lead.
Curtis Lazar (Ottawa Senators/Edmonton Oil Kings) added a fourth goal at 14:25 just as a Finnish penalty expired with a group of tired penalty killers trapped in their own zone. Canada controlled the puck for a lengthy period before Lazar jammed a rebound under the pad of Saros with assists to Josh Morrissey (Kelowna Rockets) and Robby Fabbri (Guelph Storm).
Sam Reinhart was named Canada’s Player of the Game with his two goals as Canada outshot Finland 36-28, handing them their third loss of the tournament.
Canada returns to action on Wednesday against the United States at 4:00pm ET.
SWEDEN 3, RUSSIA 2
Though Russia always poses a considerable challenge, the Swedes seem to have developed a way with them. Sweden won its sixth straight one goal decision against Russia 3-2 on Monday in a tight matchup that saw Toronto Maple Leafs prospect William Nylander play an instrumental role in the victory. The Swedish forward set up Alex Holmstrom’s winning goal at 10:53 of the third period as Sweden improved to 3-0 in the tournament.
The two clubs battled in front of a large Air Canada Centre crowd, with Nylander drawing a first period penalty that would lead to a Gustav Forsling powerplay goal to open the scoring.
The score would remain 1-0 until 14:15 of the second when Vyacheslav Leshchenko was in the right place at the right time to put a rebound past Swedish netminder Linus Soderstrom.
Pavel Buchnevich would send a light shot toward the Swedish net at 3:23 of the third, inspiring another rebound for Leshchenko who collected his second of the game as Russia led 2-1.
Another Swedish powerplay three minutes later saw Forsling pound another shot in from the point for his second of the game to tie the score at two.
Nylander would carry the puck into the Russian zone to set up the eventual winning goal off the stick of Holmstrom midway through the third as the Swedes remain perfect in the tournament with a close 3-2 victory.
UNITED STATES 3, SLOVAKIA 0
The United States had goals from Sonny Milano (Plymouth Whalers), Dylan Larkin and John Hayden on Monday while goaltender Thatcher Demko made 17 saves to make it back-to-back shutouts for the Americans in a 3-0 victory over Slovakia.
Milano, along with teammate Auston Matthews, was particularly strong for the Americans as both forwards registered seven shots on goal.
Slovakian netminder Denis Godla was busy again, facing 45 shots in the loss.
The United States now prepares for a New Years Eve showdown with Canada on Wednesday at 4:00pm ET for first place in Group A.
CZECH REPUBLIC 4, DENMARK 3 – OT
Boston Bruins first round draft pick David Pastrnak scored a minute into overtime to put an end to a see-saw battle between Denmark and the Czech Republic in Toronto. The Czechs would prevail after heavily outshooting Denmark 48-14 as Pastrnak’s breakaway marker put an end to a close game on the scoreboard.
Mads Eller (Edmonton Oil Kings) got things started off right for the Danes, giving them a 1-0 lead 3:58 into the first period, but Jan Stencel would draw the Czechs even on the powerplay midway through the period to make it 1-1 heading into the second.
The Czech Republic took a 2-1 lead at 4:26 of the second as defenceman Jan Kostalek (Rimouski Oceanic) blasted a low shot past Georg Sorensen on an assist from Pastrnak. Danish forward Oliver Bjorkstrand’s (Portland Winterhawks) quick release on the powerplay at 17:08 of the second would bring Denmark back even at two though as the third period began with a 2-2 score.
Mathias Asperup would score for Denmark and the Czechs received an equalizer from former Sudbury Wolves and Kitchener Rangers forward Dominik Kubalik to set the stage for overtime tied at three as Pastrnak would provide the finish on a very entertaining game.
The victory gives the Czech Republic its first win of the tournament as they prepare to face Russia on Wednesday while Denmark will take on Switzerland on Tuesday.
For full coverage of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, including updates and schedules, visit worldjunior2015.com or hockeycanada.ca.