World Juniors daily recap: And we’re off

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

Slovakia vs. Sweden

This year’s tournament up in Ottawa finally got rolling yesterday afternoon, and it was a lively matchup between Slovakia and Sweden to open things up. Despite the slight mismatch from a roster talent standpoint in this game, it was a close one, at least at the start. Indeed, Slovakia came out with some good jump and managed to get the better of the play through the early goings, even pulling into the lead on a power play goal by Dalibor Dvorsky just past the midway point of the first period — one which stung a little more for the Swedes, as it came right on the heels of their own power play opportunity, on which they failed to convert.

Now, the Slovaks might have managed to grab the early edge in momentum, but the talent of the Swedes ultimately caught up with, and indeed overwhelmed, them. It was Rasmus Bergqvist who got the Swedes on the board inside the first few minutes of the second period, and then they were off to the races. The scales were evened up, and it was a pretty singular effort by Axel Sandin Pellikka which well and truly broke things open — he picked up one goal in the second period, and then two more in the third to complete the natural hat trick. Linus Eriksson rounded out the scoring for Sweden in the third period, pulling them ahead by a four-goal margin. And while the Slovaks did manage to make things a little closer at the very end of regulation with another power play goal (this one from Daniel Jencko), it was ultimately too little too late, and the Swedes were able to close this one out with no more damage done.

Final: Sweden 5 – Slovakia 2 Next game up (SWE): Dec 27, 5:00 ET vs. Kazakhstan Next game up (SVK): Dec 27, 1:00 ET vs. Switzerland

United States vs. Germany

If the first game of the day saw a complete blowout being avoided, the same could not be said of the second matchup. This year’s still very stacked American team, looking to recapture last year’s gold medal magic, kicked things off against Germany, and this one was a doozy. After an even enough feeling-out period, the Americans decided it was time to kick things up a notch, and they did not slow down from there. 2025 draft-eligible forward James Hagens picked up the first goal of the game, and his line went on to put in a second before the period was over (this time he helped to set up Gabe Perrault for his goal). They extended their lead in the second period thanks to Trevor Connelly, but the Germans seemed determined to keep things close. After their challenge on Connelly’s goal for goaltender interference was unsuccessful, they turned around and put up two goals in under five minutes to follow up Connelly’s goal (the first from Julius Sumpf on the power play, and then the second from David Lewandoski at even strength). Credit to the Germans for making it close, but they couldn’t hold off or hang with the Americans forever. The US put four more up on them before the Germans could answer, and after going back and forth once more (the Americans added two more goals, then the Germans got one of their own, before the Americans grabbed another), that was all she wrote. We blinked and the Americans put up a cool 10 goals on the Germans to kick off the tournament. What a way to begin.

Final: USA 10 – Germany 4 Next game up (USA): Dec 28, 3:30 ET vs. Latvia Next game up (GER): Dec 27, 3:30 ET vs. Finland

Czechia vs. Switzerland

Our third game of the day saw a matchup between two of the more middle of the pack teams in Czechia and Switzerland facing off, and this wound up being another pretty lopsided affair. The numbers all wind up looking pretty well slanted in the Czechs’ favor (out scoring the Swiss 5-1 and outshooting them 36-25), but despite the story this tells, this was still a really competitive game.

The Czechs scored the first four goals of the game unanswered, with each of Miroslav Holinka, Eduard Sale, Ondrej Kos, and Jakub Stancl getting involved in the scoring, but the score really should have been a lot closer -- the Swiss had a couple of grade-A chances that just barely failed to connect at the last second, and several others that were stopped by the Czech goaltender Michael Hrabel, who was putting together an absolutely stellar showing. In truth, for a while there he looked like he might just be unsolvable, but the Swiss\'s luck shifted eventually. It did take until pretty well into the third period, but the Swiss did eventually get on the board, care of a goal by Leo Braillard. That was the good news, and it ends there, more or less, because while the Swiss went for an early goalie pull to try to bring the score even closer, the Czechs managed to take that opportunity to restore their four-goal lead and ran with it. Petr Sikora chipped in the empty netter, and that was all she wrote.

Final: Czechia 5 – Switzerland 1 Next game up (CZE): Dec 28, 1:00 ET vs. Kazakhstan Next game up (SUI): Dec 27, 1:00 ET vs. Slovakia

Finland vs. Canada

And the day rounded out with an early matchup between two of the powerhouses of the tournament, and it was... not what we expected. Canada came out with some real jump early and set themselves up as something close to a runaway freight train. Canada held the early territorial advantage, handling the puck at will and dominating in chances created (they put up 17 shots in the first frame alone, and held the Finns to just six). It took them a little while to solve the Finnish goaltender, but Gavin McKenna got the Canadians on the board before the first intermission hit (this goal was also assisted on by our old pal Oliver Bonk).

From here, the Finns worked to pick up a bit more steam, but the strength of the Canadian offense just proved to be too much for them. Easton Cowan extended their lead early in the second period, and while they weren\'t able to convert on either of the two power plays they were handed in the second period, it was clear that the Canadians had the Finns on the ropes. Finland managed to bear down and create some more and better chances in the third period, but by then, it was too little too late. Luca Pinelli put them in a three-goal hole, making their hill to climb even steeper, and Carter George was too locked in to let them get anything by him. The Finns pressed until the bitter end, even pulled their goalie late in the third to try and at least avoid getting shut out, but the Canadians foiled them again. Matthew Schaefer put away the empty net goal, and that closed out a pretty commanding first win of the tournament for the home team.

Final: Canada 4 – Finland 0 Next game up (FIN): Dec 27, 3:30 ET vs. Germany Next game up (CAN): Dec 27, 7:30 ET vs. Latvia

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