WJC 2016 Day 5 Recap
Wednesday December 30, 2015
The United States, Sweden and Finland all took commanding victories on Day 5 of the World Junior Hockey Championship while the Czech Republic got by Belarus 5-3.
Here’s a look at Wednesday’s action in Helsinki.
UNITED STATES 10, SWITZERLAND 1
Though they made things interesting against Canada on Tuesday, Switzerland was no match for the United States a day later as the Americans scored 10 times on 33 shots enroute to a 10-1 win.
London Knights forwards Matthew Tkachuk (2-1–3) and Christian Dvorak (1-2–3) each had three point outings while OHL graduate Sonny Milano had a pair of assists in the victory.
Goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic (Niagara IceDogs) and Brandon Halverson (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) shared the load in goal as the United States improved to 2-1 and have outscored opponents 14-4 over three games.
The Americans wrap up the preliminary round against Denmark on Thursday.
SWEDEN 5, DENMARK 0
Sweden improved to 3-0, outshooting Denmark 48-9 in a 5-0 victory.
Forward Oskar Lindblom led the way with a goal and an assist while draft eligible winger Alexander Nylander (Mississauga Steelheads) picked up his second goal of the tournament.
Twelve different players had points as Sweden made short work of Denmark. They’ll prepare for a New Year’s Eve showdown with Canada on Thursday.
FINLAND 8, SLOVAKIA 3
Defencemen Vili Saarijarvi (Flint Firebirds) and Olli Juolevi (London Knights) factored into the offence as Finland defeated Slovakia 8-3.
The highest scoring team in the tournament, Finland had a goal and three assists from tournament leading scorer Jesse Puljujarvi while Saarijarvi had three assists and Juolevi added two.
Finland outshot the Slovaks 48-28 in the game.
Radovan Bondra (Vancouver Giants) had a goal for Slovakia in the loss.
CZECH REPUBLIC 5, BELARUS 3
They entered the third period trailing 3-2, but the Czech Republic rallied late to defeat Belarus 5-3 on third period markers from Jiri Smejkal (Moose Jaw Warriors) and Dominik Masin (Peterborough Petes).
Simon Stransky (Prince Albert Raiders) also scored for the Czechs while Winnipeg Jets prospect Michael Spacek (Red Deer Rebels) pitched in with two assists.
Stepan Falkovsky (Ottawa 67’s) had a goal and an assist for Belarus.
The Czechs outshot their opponent 49-24 in the victory, improving to 2-0-1 in the tournament. They finish the preliminary round against Finland on Thursday.
For full coverage of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, including updates and schedules, visit worldjunior2016.com or hockeycanada.ca.
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