Wednesday is the third day of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held at Scotiabank Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Avenir Center in Moncton, New Brunswick.
Day 2 results
Finland 5, Slovakia 2
Sweden 1, Germany 0
Switzerland 3, Latvia 2 (SO)
Czechia 9, Austria 0
What We Learned on Day 2
Record-setting game for Suchanek
Tomas Suchanek (2023 draft eligible) of Czechia became the first goalie in tournament history with two assists in a game during his eight-save shutout against Austria.
He was credited with an assist on a goal by Jakub Brabenec (Vegas Golden Knights) that made it 1-0 at 3:50 of the first period, and he started the breakout that led to Gabriel Szturc’s goal at 10:02 of the second. period.
“In this type of game everyone wants the goalie to play the puck,” Suchanek said. “I think it’s part of my job and I’m just lucky right now that the shooters are scoring goals.”
Suchanek also had an assist in Czechia’s 5-2 win against Canada, making him the all-time leading scorer among WJC goalies with three points, all assists.
Prior to Tuesday, the only goalies with multiple assists in a single tournament, were John Gibson of the United States (2013), Joni Ortio of Finland (2010) and Janis Kalnins of Latvia (2010). The other goalies with two career points at the World Juniors are Roman Turek of Czechoslovakia (1989, 1990), Henrik Lundqvist of Sweden (2001, 2002) and Marc-Andre Fleury of Canada (2003, 2004).
Suchanek hasn’t had the same success with Tri-City of the Western Hockey League, where he’s played the past two seasons. He doesn’t have an assist in 23 games this season and had one in 42 games last season.
“His strong skating ability definitely helps in his puck handling,” said Al Jensen of NHL Central Scouting. “He’s able to get to pucks quickly. He’s very comfortable and confident in his ability to move the puck. Strong skating ability helps his crease movement play and puck play.”
Finland feels better
It was a far different feeling for Finland when it skated off the ice at Avenir Center on Tuesday.
One day after losing 3-2 in overtime to Switzerland, Finland rebounded with a 5-2 win against Slovakia.
A big reason for their success was shifting Joakim Kemell (Nashville Predators) to the top line, alongside Oliver Kapanen (Montreal Canadiens) and Ville Koivunen (Carolina Hurricanes).
Kemell scored at 3:34 of the second period, a one-timer that was the first of three goals for Finland in the second period. He then set up Kapanen’s goal that gave Finland a 3-1 lead at 7:45 of the second.
Kemell started the game against Switzerland as the 13th forward but by the end was on the first line. He started there Tuesday and the difference for Finland was obvious.
“Our first line, they played a really strong game today and Kemell was really strong too,” Finland coach Tomi Lamsa said. “So I think that was a really good move.”
Sweden needs more discipline
Sweden has won its first two games but with drastically different results, 11-0 against Austria on Monday and 1-0 against Germany on Tuesday.
The common theme for Sweden, however, was a lack of discipline. It gave Austria four power plays and Germany five.
Killing them off was good, but Sweden knows it can’t play that way, especially as it gets later in the tournament, including its preliminary-round finale against Canada that could decide the top spot in Group A.
“The discipline has to be much better,” forward Isak Rosen (Buffalo Sabres) said. “We can’t have six or seven [penalties] a game, or whatever we had today because they get the momentum from that. Otherwise 5-on-5 they don’t have that much. I don’t think we can play like that with five or six penalties.”
On Tap for Day 3
All games on NHL Network in US, TSN and RDS in Canada
Slovakia vs. United States (4 p.m. ET) — Slovakia will certainly be looking for a better start than it had against Finland on Tuesday, when it had 10 shots on goal but didn’t score until the final minute. Forward Peter Repcik (2023 draft eligible) said, “The first period was tough for us. We were kind of afraid of Finland or of the start of the tournament.” The US didn’t look scared in its 5-2 win against Latvia on Monday, but will try to be better than it was when the game was tied 2-2 entering the third period.
Canada vs. Germany (6:30 p.m. ET) — Canada must overcome the shock of its 5-2 loss to Czechia on Monday. Coach Dennis Williams kept the players off the ice Tuesday, instead focusing on video work, and saying there needs to be more of a push to simplify their game. “I would have liked to see us do a better job of getting to the paint, getting to the tough areas, focusing more on the way we want to play,” Williams said. Thomas Milic (2023 draft eligible) will start in goal. Germany could stay with goalie Nikita Quapp after the Carolina Hurricanes prospect made 43 saves in a 1-0 loss to Sweden on Tuesday.
LNH.com staff writer Guillaume Lepage contributed to this report
Quick links
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