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World Junior Championship roundup: Kemell leads Finland past Slovakia

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Tuesday is the second 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 games

Finland 5, Slovakia 2 — Joakim Kemmell (Nashville Predators) and Oliver Kapanen (Montreal Canadiens) each had a goal and an assist for Finland in a Group B game at Avenir Centre.

Sami Paivarinta (2023 draft eligible), Janie Nyman (Seattle Kraken) and Brad Lambert (Winnipeg Jets) scored, and Jani Lampinen (2023 draft eligible) made 22 saves for Finland (1-0-1-0), which rebounded from a 3-2 overtime loss to Switzerland on Monday.

“Today we had a fresh start,” Finland coach Tomi Lamsa said. “And I’m satisfied with how we played, the kind of energy we had. Tactically I think we made good decisions. And of course, in the second period we had three goals. That was a big, big 20 minutes for us. “

Peter Repcik (2023 draft eligible) scored two power-play goals for Slovakia (0-0-0-1), which played its first game of the tournament. Patrik Andrisik (2023 draft eligible) allowed four goals on 15 shots before being replaced in the second period by Matej Marinov (2023 draft eligible), who made seven saves.

Paivarinta made it 1-0 at 8:54 of the first period with a shot from the right face-off dot.

Repcik scored on the rebound of a shot by Dalibor Dvorsky (2023 draft eligible) to tie it 1-1 at 19:49.

Kemell gave Finland a 2-1 lead at 3:34 of the second period, and Kapanen made it 3-1 on a wraparound goal at 7:45. Nyman made it 4-1 with a power-play goal at 13:56.

Tweet from @TSN_Sports: Joakim Kemell finishes off the one-timer to give Finland an early 2nd period lead. #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/kX0fYak1Hw

Repcik’s second goal cut it to 4-2 at 3:22 of the third period, before Lambert scored on an end-to-end rush at 5:01 for the 5-2 final.

Slovakia next plays the United States on Wednesday (4 p.m. ET). Finland plays Latvia on Thursday (11 am ET).

“I think we are really good players, and I think we can make a surprise,” Repcik said of playing the US

Sweden 1, Germany 0 — Carl Lindbom (Vegas Golden Knights) made 28 saves for his second consecutive shutout in a Group A game at Scotiabank Centre.

Lindbom made 13 saves in an 11-0 win for Sweden against Austria on Monday.

Adam Engstrom (Montreal Canadiens) scored for Sweden (2-0-0-0).

Sweden went 0-for-4 on the power play, and Fabian Lysell (Boston Bruins) was stopped on a penalty shot in the second period.

“We didn’t play well,” Sweden forward Isak Rosen (Buffalo Sabres) said. “We’re not doing anything wrong really but we don’t use our skill enough. We don’t go hard to the net to score goals. We could score some more goals but not getting there, so that’s got to be better. But a win is a win.”

Nikita Quapp (Carolina Hurricanes) made 43 saves for Germany (0-0-0-1), which played its first game of the tournament.

“I think we played a good game,” Germany coach Tobias Abstreiter said. “I think it was the best first game that we played in the last couple of years, and against a good hockey nation. We had a chance to win the game.”

Engstrom scored at 19:38 of the first period. Philip Bystedt (San Jose Sharks) won an offensive-zone face-off and, with the puck rolling back to Engstrom, the defenseman sent a shot from inside the blue line through traffic and past Quapp.

Tweet from @TSN_Sports: Sweden is on the board with 21 seconds to go in the 1st period 🚨#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/suwsZRv8f0

Lindbom preserved the lead, including 13 saves in the third period.

Germany next plays Canada on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. ET). Sweden plays Czechia on Thursday (1:30 p.m. ET).

Switzerland 3, Latvia 2 (SO) — Liekit Reichle (2023 draft eligible) scored in the seventh round of the shootout to help Switzerland rally in a Group B game at Avenir Centre.

Louis Robin (2023 draft eligible) and Rodwin Dionicio (2023 draft eligible) scored for Switzerland (0-2-0-0). Kevin Pasche (2023 draft eligible) made 16 saves.

Darels Dukurs (2023 draft eligible) and Dans Locmelis (Boston Bruins) scored for Latvia (0-0-1-1). Patriks Berzins (2023 draft eligible) made 27 saves.

Switzerland tied it 2-2 with 1:56 remaining in the third period when Dionicio scored on a point shot through traffic with Pasche pulled for an extra attacker.

Tweet from @TSN_Sports: DIONICIO TIES THE GAME WITH 2 MINUTES REMAINING 🇨🇭#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/LciH60z1vc

Robin put Switzerland up 1-0 at 8:20 of the first period, scoring by a shot on the rebound. Brian Zanetti (Philadelphia Flyers).

Locmelis tied it 1-1 at 13:03 when he scored on his own rebound, but Dukurs gave Latvia a 2-1 lead at 17:50 of the second period on a power play, also scoring on a rebound.

Each team next plays Thursday, Latvia against Finland (11 am ET), Switzerland against the United States (4 pm ET).

Czechia 9, Austria 0 — Jiri Kulich (Buffalo Sabres) had a hat trick, and Czechia routed Austria in a Group A game at Scotiabank Centre.

Gabriel Szturc (2023 draft eligible) scored twice, David Spacek (Minnesota Wild) had a goal and an assist, Matyas Sapovaliv (Vegas Golden Knights) had four assists, and Stanislav Svozil (Columbus Blue Jackets) had three assists for Czechia (2-0-0-0). Tomas Suchanek (2023 draft eligible) made eight saves and had two assists.

Michael Sicher (2023 draft eligible) made 38 saves for Austria (0-0-0-2).

Jakub Brabenec (Vegas Golden Knights) made it 1-0 at 3:50 of the first period with a power-play goal, and Kulich extended it to 2-0, scoring from the right face-off circle after receiving a seam pass from the left. point by Svozil at 16:26.

Tweet from @TSN_Sports: Jiri Kulich rips it shortside, giving Czechia a 2-0 lead! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/lBll8kmH9y

Petr Hauser (New Jersey Devils) jammed in a loose puck in the crease to make it 3-0 at 18:39.

Szturc made it 4-0 at 1:05 of the second period, and Ales Cech (2023 draft eligible) had his point shot squeeze between Sicher’s pads to make it 5-0 at 2:56.

Kulich scored on a power play to push it to 6-0 at 8:16, and Szturc made it 7-0 at 10:02 when he finished a give-and-go with Jaroslav Chmelar (New York Rangers).

Kulich completed the hat trick on a breakaway eight seconds into the third period to make it 8-0, and Spacek scored at 14:13 for the 9-0 final.

Each team next plays Thursday, Czechia against Sweden (1:30 pm ET), Austria against Canada (6:30 pm ET).

Quick links

World Junior Championship predictions

Group A preview

Group B preview

World Juniors Championship rosters

Tournament schedule

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