The 2023 World Juniors kicked off in Atlantic Canada on Monday, and Day 1 was marked by a pair of upsets, three great games, and one lopsided blowout. Here’s what you need to know:
- After the Swiss beat both the Swedes and Czechs in pre-tournament action, they kicked off the first game of the tournament in Moncton with a 3-2 overtime stunner over the 2022 silver medalist Finns.
- The Latvians, fresh off their first-ever quarterfinal appearance at the world juniors, played the Americans to a surprising tie in the third period before Team USA pulled away for a 5-2 win.
- The Swedes began action in Halifax by routing the Austrians 11-0.
- The Czechs closed out the opening day’s four-pack of games with a 5-2 upset over the defending champion host Canadians.
The Athletic‘s instant analysis:
Sweden’s top line puts on a show
Sixteen different Swedes found the scoresheet in their tournament-opening blowout over Austria, but it was the trio of Sharks first-rounder Filip Bystedt, Sabers first-rounder Isak Rosen and top 2023 NHL Draft prospect Leo Carlsson that did the most damage. They combined for four goals, eight points, and 16 shots.
Rosen was particularly impressive and scored two of the day’s prettier goals with a pair of perfectly placed shots. Rosen led the Swedes in goals (four) this summer in Edmonton en route to a bronze medal, and they’re going to need him to come up big as a returnee if they want to contend for a medal again here. It was nice to see him put a couple in early, because finishing is his thing and he hadn’t scored in his last 10 games in the AHL with Rochester coming in. — Wheeler
Habs prospect Vinzenz Rohrer under the weather
Austria was without its only drafted NHL prospect in their opener, but according to head coach Kirk Furey post-game, he “just wasn’t feeling the best” and the team hopes to have him back tomorrow for their second game against Czechia. — Wheeler
Canada loses the goaltending battle
There was more to Canada’s loss than goaltending (a crucial five-minute penalty to Golden Knights prospect Zach Dean, some positional snafus defensively, some forcing it offensively) but Canadian hockey fans are probably getting tired of hearing about question marks between the pipes at international events. The difference in Monday’s finale was the stellar play of undrafted Czech returnee Tomas Suchanek at one end and the five goals on 17 shots surrendered by Sharks prospect Ben Gaudreau at the other for Canada.
A Canadian has won the tournament directorate award for top goaltender at the world juniors just twice in the last 14 years, and Devon Levi’s win in 2021 stands as the only one that was clear cut. The net in Halifax may belong to undrafted Seattle Thunderbirds goaltender Thomas Milic (who made a couple of big saves in relief) now. Can he run with it and put the question to bed? — Wheeler
Lian Bichsel leads Switzerland to upset over Finland
The Dallas first-round pick was outstanding for Switzerland today. The big, mobile, physical defender was a constant presence versus Finland’s better forwards (who were invisible for long stretches, and had mid-game line juggling). He played a ton of minutes, over 26 to be exact, on 41 shifts. He also made an excellent play on the overtime winner which included a great stop, skating the puck up ice and assisting on the goal. Bichsel looked everything like the eventual shutdown NHL defenseman he projects to become, with his play today reminding me a lot of Buffalo’s Mattias Samuelsson as a junior. — Pronman
This OT sequence from Lian Bichsel to win the game for Switzerland was something else. #WorldJuniors #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/Atrc7YotYe
— Lassi Alanen (@lassialanen) December 26, 2022
Required reading
(Photo: Dale Preston/Getty Images)
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