It was an exciting second day at the 2023 World Juniors. Sweden defeated Germany in a much tighter contest than expected and Switzerland won in a shootout. Here’s what you need to know:
- Finland defeated Slovakia 5-2. Montreal prospect Oliver Kapanen was named the best player for Finland after scoring a goal and an assist.
- Sweden squeaked by Germany 1-0. Vegas prospect Carl Lindbom recorded a 28-save shutout for Sweden.
- Switzerland beat Latvia 3-2 in a shootout. Dallas prospect Lian Bichsel continued his strong tournament, being named player of the game, recording a point and logging 28 minutes of ice time. Read more on Bichsel’s tournament here.
- Czechia routed Austria 9-0 to record their second win of the tournament.
The Athletic‘s instant analysis:
Joakim Kemell quickly regained form
The Nashville 2022 first-round pick hasn’t had as big a year in Finland as expected, was just fine in the pre-tournament and started the tournament for Finland as their 13th forward. That was all a mild surprise given Kemell was one of Finland’s best players at the summer World Juniors and has generally had a lot of international success. That changed quickly, as Kemell has been one of, if not Finland’s best player through their first two games, quickly elevating to their top line. He scored a nice goal today from range, but it’s the pace and physicality he’s bringing while creating offense at even strength for himself and others that is reassuring to see. — Pronman
Slovakia needs more from top players
Slovakia is not an overly deep group. They will rely a lot on draft-eligible players like Dalibor Dvorsky, Samuel Honzek and Maxim Strbak. However, if they are going to have success at the World Juniors they need their drafted players to be big, namely Rangers second-round pick Adam Sykora, Minnesota pick Servac Petrovsky, Montreal first-round pick Filip Mesar, and second overall pick by New Jersey Simon Nemec.
Collectively that group looked fine today against Finland, but nobody was particularly impactful. Looking at Mesar and especially Nemec, being fine/good won’t be good enough for Slovakia. They need Nemec to not just be a smart solid puck-mover, but take over games, like he did in the playoffs in Slovakia last season and at times at his Hlinka Gretzky. — Pronman
Golden Knights goalie prospect Carl Lindbom stays perfect for Sweden
Lindbom has pitched back-to-back shutouts to begin the World Juniors. The first was a no-fuss 13-save blank sheet against the Austrians. But his team needed all 28 of his saves on the tail end of their back-to-back against Germany. Hurricanes prospect Nikita Quapp was brilliant at the other end, stopping 43 of 44 to give the Germans a chance and keep the game within one. But Lindbom made some big stops himself, especially in the third when the Canadian crowd got behind the Germans and the momentum tilted. There was no frontrunner for the top goaltender in this year’s tournament — at least not relative to recent years — but if there were it should have been Lindbom, who has a stellar .936 save percentage in Sweden’s second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan with Djurgardens IF this season. . It’s going to get tougher for him from here on out, with the Czechs and Canadians up next.
Lindbom was picked no. 222 in 2021, just three picks shy of the end of the draft, and he’s on the smaller side for a goalie at 6-foot, but he’s legit and moves really well in the net. — Wheeler
Blue Jackets prospect Stanislav Svozil impressed
In a tournament that features defensemen who were drafted No. 2 (Nemec), No. 4 (New Jersey’s Luke Hughes) and No. 6 (Columbus’ David Jiricek), Svozil isn’t the biggest name at his position. He’s not even the biggest name at his position on the Czech team (that belongs to Jiricek) or among the prospects playing from the team that drafted him (that’s Jiricek too). But he is Czechia’s captain and he has always been a top player in the 2003 age group. After playing 21:50 and making two nice plays on goals in Czechia’s upset over Canada in the opener, he added three more assists to his totals on Tuesday. He looks in complete control of the game out there.
The Czechs are going to be a tough out in this tournament with the way they’re playing. — Wheeler
Required reading
(Photo: Darren Calabrese / The Canadian Press via AP)
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