World Juniors daily recap: Blowouts abound

Throughout the World Juniors tournament, we’ll be keeping track of all the action and bringing you all of the results in one place.

Sweden vs. Czech Republic

Our first game of the day yesterday was certainly an interesting one. With both teams getting their legs under them in their first game of the preliminary round (and first game of the tournament for Sweden), the Czech team seemed to come out with a bit more jump and were able to grab an early edge in momentum. They also picked up the first goal of the game with a power play goal from Jan Mysak just past the midpoint of the period, and really looked like they had Sweden on their heels. That didn’t last too much longer, though, as Sweden got that goal right back thanks to Arvid Costmar just 17 seconds later, and while it wasn’t like a switch flipped for them, they started to steadily pick up some steam from there.

After the first intermission is when things really started to tilt in Sweden’s favor. They picked up a power play goal from Albin Sundsvik just over nine minutes into the period, and then things looked a little dodgy for a moment, when Sweden went and took a holding penalty right after, but no matter, they were covered, Emil Heineman went right down and scored short handed for them. They would tack on one more goal in the second period thanks to Theodor Niederbach, and then rolled into the third period with all of that momentum. Sweden outshot the Czech Republic 15-5 in that period, and added goals from Elmer Soderblom (PP), Oscar Bjerselius, and Noel Gunler (PP), as we saw their power play stay hot and their scoring well distributed throughout the lineup.

It was a pretty lopsided game, all told, but somehow it wasn’t even the most lopsided of the day. Buckle in, folks.

Final: Sweden 7 - Czech Republic 1

Next game up (SWE): Dec. 28, 2:00 EST vs. AUT.

Next game up (CZE): Dec. 27, 9:30 EST vs. RUS.

Germany vs. Canada

For their second evening in a row, Germany was back at it, and still working with a lineup of just 14 players, and the task ahead of them got even harder, as they were set to face a stack Canadian team. Canada came out with some steam in this one and picked up the first two goals of the game, the first from Kaiden Guhle inside the first two minutes of play and then Dawson Mercer just past the seven minute mark. Germany got one back on the power play care of John-Jason Peterka, after they were given five minutes to work with after a Braden Schneider check to the head penalty (for which he was also given a game misconduct). The game seemed to be within reach, but only for a moment—thanks to Philip Tomasino and Peyton Krebs on the power play, Canada picked up two more goals and went into the intermission with a 4-1 lead.

And this one really did get ugly fast for Germany, and Canada’s offense completely exploded in the second period. We won’t belabor the point, so here’s a breakdown of the scoring:

22:40: Dawson Mercer. 5-1 Canada.

25:36: Nick Suzuki. 6-1 Canada.

26:40: Alex Newhook. 7-1 Canada.

30:59: Alex Newhook. 8-1 Canada.

33:01: Philip Tomasino. 9-1 Canada.

38:14: Dylan Cozens. 10-1 Canada.

39:51: Peyton Krebs. 11-1 Canada.

40:37: Dylan Cozens (PP). 12-1 Canada.

44:33: Dylan Cozens. 13-1 Canada.

45:02: Jakob Pelletier. 14-1 Canada.

46:24: Thomas Harley. 15-1 Canada.

48:38: Connor McMichael (SH). 16-1 Canada.

The mood for this one, suffice it to say, pretty quickly turned to “this isn’t even fun anymore,” and we felt pretty bad for this German team. They picked up a late goal from Florian Elias, which didn’t do anything to salvage the game on the scoring front, but it was nice to see them sticking with it and still showing some life. They’ve been dealt a tough hand here, and the full lineup waiting around the corner feels very welcome.

Final: Canada 16 - Germany 2

Next game up (GER): Dec. 28, 9:30 EST vs. Slovakia

Next game up (CAN): Dec. 27, 6:00 EST vs. Slovakia

USA vs. Austria

After a tough loss to Russia Friday, the US was looking to clean up some of their details and get themselves back on track, and well, that’s just what they did last night. They came out with some junk and did well to establish sustained offensive zone time, putting on a clinic and just peppering the Austrians with chances. It took a little bit for them to break through, but at 15:31, they picked up their first goal, that during the game had its turn being awarded to just about every player on the ice, before the finally settled on Drew Helleson. With the number of chances the US created in the first period but weren’t rewarded for, it felt like once they got one, the floodgates were going to open, and that’s just what the second period brought. The US spent what felt like just about the whole of the period in the offensive zone, and they were rewarded well for it—they picked up six goal goals in the middle frame (thanks to Trevor Zegras (2), John Farinacci, Brendan Brisson, and Matthew Boldy (2)), while holding Austria to just two shots.

With the US carrying just about all of the momentum in the world with them into the third period, it didn’t take long for them to tack on to their lead in the final frame. Just under two and a half minutes into the period, Brett Berard picked up a nice goal on the rush, and then Brendan Brisson added another just 42 seconds later, to make it a 9-0 game. But they weren’t done, and the hits kept on coming, as Matthew Boldy tacked on another. The midpoint of the period saw another blow dealt to the Austrians, as goaltender Sebastian Wraneschitz went down to make his 58th save of the night and seemingly tweaked something in his lower body, and this would be the end of his night. Jakob Brandner came in in relief, and Sam Colangelo scored on him on the first shot he faced.

Mercifully, perhaps, this was the end of the scoring for the US, but not the end of the drama. They closed out the period with a power play after Philipp Wimmer put a high hit on a defenseless Patrick Moynihan in open ice, ending both of their nights. Ugly stuff, gang.

And I don’t really know what more to say about this one other than to close out by noting that the shots ended up being 60-17 and shot attempts 93-21 in favor of the US. I need a nap.

Final: USA 11 - Austria 0

Next game up (USA): Dec. 29, 2:00 EST vs. Czech Republic

Next game up (AUT): Dec. 28, 6:00 EST vs. Sweden