WJC 2015 Day 2 Recap
Saturday December 27, 2014
Day two of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship featured its share of standouts and surprises as Canada remained perfect against Germany while Finland and the Czech Republic found worthy opponents in Slovakia and Switzerland. Here’s a look at Saturday’s 2015 WJC action.
CANADA 4, GERMANY 0
After a shutout from Zach Fucale (Quebec Remparts) in Friday’s 8-0 win over Slovakia, Eric Comrie (Tri-City Americans) took over in goal against Germany on Saturday to turn aside 17 shots in a shutout win of his own. Canadian goals from Connor McDavid (Erie Otters) Curtis Lazar (Ottawa Senators/Edmonton Oil Kings), Max Domi (London Knights) and Madison Bowey (Kelowna Rockets) carried Canada to a 4-0 win as the powerplay went 3 for 4 at the Bell Centre.
McDavid was quick to get Canada on the board, scoring on the man advantage 4:11 into the first period from Josh Morrissey (Kelowna Rockets) and Nic Petan (Portland Winterhawks). After Max Domi was stopped on a breakaway, Lazar would tally on the powerplay at 12:42 with assists from McDavid and Petan as Canada led 2-0 heading into the second.
Germany would put Comrie to work on the other side of the intermission, outshooting Canada 10-6 as the Winnipeg Jets prospect provided a big breakaway save off Marc Michaelis to preserve the two goal lead.
Max Domi’s strong puck pressure in the offensive zone forced a Germany turnover at 9:14 of the third as Domi flipped to linemate Sam Reinhart (Kootenay Ice) who quickly dished back to Domi at the side of the goal for the finish as Canada went ahead 3-0.
Madison Bowey would beat German goaltender Kevin Reich at 15:44 of the third on a nice saucer pass from Nic Petan to extend the lead to four as Canada’s tournament record improved to 2-0 heading into a matchup against Finland on Monday.
McDavid finished the game with a goal and two assists while Petan added three assists in the victory. Canadian goaltenders Zach Fucale and Eric Comrie have combined to shutout opponents over 120 minutes of play.
Canada takes on Finland at the Bell Centre on Monday December 29 at 8:00pm ET.
SWEDEN 5, DENMARK 1
A goal and two assists from captain Jacob de la Rose led Sweden to a 5-1 win over Denmark on Saturday at the Air Canada Centre. First period goals from Lucas Wallmark, Anton Blidh and William Nylander put Sweden in front 3-0 after 20 minutes.
de la Rose and Sebastian Aho added Swedish goals in the second while Denmark’s lone marker came from Nick Olesen.
Defenceman Julius Bergman (London Knights) had an assist in the Swedish victory. Sweden outshot Denmark 44-20.
SWITZERLAND 5, CZECH REPUBLIC 2
Switzerland’s 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship got off to a positive start on Saturday as Nashville Predators prospect Kevin Fiala scored twice and Timo Meier (Halifax Mooseheads) added a pair of assists in a 5-2 win over the Czech Republic.
The two clubs battled to a 2-2 score after one period as Fiala tallied twice for the Swiss with Meier contributing assists on both goals.
A big second period saw three Swiss goals from Noah Rod, Tim Weiser and Luca Fazzini as they never looked back, getting 29 saves in goal from Gauthier Descloux enroute to the victory.
SLOVAKIA 2, FINLAND 1
After being pulled in the second period of Friday’s 8-0 loss to Canada, Slovakian goaltender Denis Godla bounced back in a big way on Saturday. Facing the reigning gold medalists from Finland, Godla made 37 saves as Slovakia took a surprising 2-1 victory over the Fins at the Bell Centre to keep them winless through two games.
Former Gatineau Olympiques forward Martin Reway had assists on both Slovakian goals that came from Peter Cehlarik and Matus Holenda. Slovakia was outshot 38-12 in the victory.
For full coverage of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, including updates and schedules, visit worldjunior2015.com or hockeycanada.ca.