Pre-tournament action continued at the 2023 World Juniors on Wednesday as Sweden faced off with USA and Canada with Slovakia. Pre-tournament play continues through Friday. Here’s what you need to know:
- USA beat Sweden convincingly 5-1. Luke Hughes (New Jersey) opened the scoring with a nice breakaway tally, and USA had four other goal-scorers including two from their fourth line.
- Canada beat Slovakia 6-1. The one Slovakia goal was an own goal by Canada’s Shane Wright who otherwise recorded his second straight multi-point game of the pre-tournament.
The Athletic‘s instant analysis:
USA gets secondary scoring
Logan Cooley (Arizona), Hughes and Cutter Gauthier (Philadelphia) are expected to carry USA as top-5 NHL draft picks, but they need help from down the lineup to have success in this tournament. Those three all played very well, but the other lines did too.
2023 eligibles Charlie Stramel and Gavin Brindley factored into the offense, with Brindley making a highly impressive feed on the second goal to Kenny Connors (Los Angeles). The USA’s second line of Chaz Lucius (Winnipeg) between Rutger McGroarty (Winnipeg) and Jackson Blake (Carolina) also looked quite good and Tyler Boucher (Ottawa) played well. Blake is the only forward in the USA’s top six who isn’t a first-round pick. He’s not that big or quick, but he’s very skilled and competitive and didn’t look out of place that high in the lineup.
Canada’s second line leads the way
Against Switzerland the second Canadian unit of Logan Stankoven (Dallas) between Adam Fantilli (draft eligible) and Dylan Guenther (Arizona) was quiet but they were their best line against Slovakia. Stankoven was playing fast, competing hard and creating a ton. Fantilli was playing at the top of his game showing pace and a lot of offensive creativity and playmaking. That line had the puck a ton and created a lot of scoring chances.
The 8th overall pick by the Kings struggled a bit against Switzerland, but tonight against Slovakia he was Canada’s best defenseman. His high-end skill, poise and offensive IQ were on constant display and he made a lot of positive plays with the puck.
Mild concerns for Sweden
On paper, Sweden has a highly talented roster. They have a plethora of first-round pick forwards and although they have a banged-up blue line this should be a top team in the tournament. They looked a bit overmatched at times versus the USA though. It’s only pre-tournament and there’s plenty of time to iron out kinks. For example, this age group got beaten down by the USA at the U18 Worlds in the pre-tournament only to knock them out in the quarterfinals. However, in their most recent game before this one at the U18 3 nations in November, this Sweden group also got trounced 6-1 by Finland.
(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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