WJC 2016 Day 1 Recap
Saturday December 26, 2015
The prelminary round of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Helsinki, Finland got underway on Saturday with the United States, Russia, Sweden and Finland all skating to victories.
Here’s how the day’s events unfolded.
UNITED STATES 4, CANADA 2
Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (Niagara IceDogs) made 25 saves while forward Matthew Tkachuk (London Knights) had a pair of assists as the United States defeated Canada in the preliminary round at the World Juniors for the first time since 1998.
Mathew Barzal (Seattle Thunderbirds) opened the scoring for Canada while Arizona Coyotes first round pick Dylan Strome (Erie Otters) tied the game at two in the third period the Americans pulled ahead for good.
Canada outshot the United States 27-25 in the loss.
Canada’s next matchup comes on Monday against Denmark at 1:00pm ET.
RUSSIA 2, CZECH REPUBLIC 1 SO
Maxim Lazarev (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles) scored the shootout winner as Russia edged the Czech Republic 2-1.
Winnipeg Jets prospect Michael Spacek (Red Deer Rebels) opened the scoring for the Czechs before Russian winger Radel Fazleev (Calgary Hitmen) set linemate Artur Lauta up for the tying goal midway through the third period.
Lazarev scored the lone goal in the shootout to lead Russia to victory.
FINLAND 6, BELARUS 0
The host Finns blanked Belarus 6-0 as London Knights rookie defenceman Olli Juolevi registered a pair of assists in front of a capacity crowd at Hartwall Arena.
Draft eligible Finnish forward Jesse Puljujarvi led the way with two goals and an assist while Sebastian Aho had three helpers in the win.
Finland only led 1-0 after 40 minutes, piling on five third period goals while outshooting Belarus 37-10 in the game.
Finland now prepares for a big matchup against Russia on Monday.
SWEDEN 8, SWITZERLAND 3
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Dmytro Timashov (Quebec Remparts) had two goals and an assist while draft eligible winger Alexander Nylander (Mississauga Steelheads) had three assists as Sweden defeated Switzerland 8-3.
The Swedes outshot Switzerland 39-18 as they embarked on a hunt for their third gold medal and first since 2012.
Sweden prepares to face the United States on Monday.
For full coverage of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, including updates and schedules, visit worldjunior2016.com or hockeycanada.ca.
