WJC 2015 Day 1 Recap
Friday December 26, 2014
The preliminary round of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship got underway in Toronto and Montreal on Friday, with Canada, The United States, Sweden and Russia all picking up victories. Here’s Friday’s action at a glance.
CANADA 8, SLOVAKIA 0
The goals came fast and furious for Canada on Friday night at the Bell Centre as a pair of first period goals from Robby Fabbri (Guelph Storm) and one from Anthony Duclair (New York Rangers/Quebec Remparts) set the table for an eventual 8-0 victory. Fabbri would go on to record two goals and two assists to be named Canada’s Player of the Game.
Canada controlled the possession game in the first period and was dominant in the faceoff circle throughout the game, starting with the puck on a consistent basis.
Second period goals came from Nick Paul (North Bay Battalion), Brayden Point (Moose Jaw Warriors), Max Domi (London Knights) and Nic Petan (Portland Winterhawks) before Jake Virtanen (Calgary Hitmen) rounded out the scoring in the third.
Canada outshot their Slovakian opponents 34-12, chasing goaltender Denis Godla from the crease in the second period after scoring five goals on 23 shots.
Assistant Captain Sam Reinhart (Kootenay Ice) was a force in the faceoff circle for Canada, winning 14 of the 19 draws he took enroute to recording two assists on the night. Defenceman Madison Bowey (Kelowna Rockets) also tallied two helpers while racking up a team high plus-5 rating. Draft eligible forward Connor McDavid (Erie Otters) led the team with six shots on goal.
Canada is back on the ice Saturday against Germany when the puck drops at 8:00pm ET at the Bell Centre.
UNITED STATES 2, FINLAND 1 – SO
A goaltending duel at the Bell Centre saw Chase De Leo (Portland Winterhawks) lift the United States to a 2-1 shootout victory over the reigning gold medalist Fins, scoring the winner in the third round of the shootout on Friday afternoon.
Finnish goaltender Ville Husso made 36 saves while American netminder Thatcher Demko picked up the win, turning aside 28 shots. Both clubs scored first period markers with De Leo collecting an assist on Alex Tuch’s goal at 13:54 to tie the score at one.
The United States would prevail, outshooting Finland 38-29 to begin the preliminary round on the right foot.
SWEDEN 5, CZECH REPUBLIC 2
A pair of goals from Jakub Vrana would help the Czech Republic overcome an early 2-0 deficit, but Sweden would receive additional goals from William Nylander, Adrian Kempe and Jacob de la Rose in the latter half of the game to take a 5-2 win at the Air Canada Centre.
Despite outshooting Sweden 29-27, the Czechs surrendered a pair of powerplay goals and received a pair of 10-minute misconducts in the game as Swedish goaltender Linus Soderstrom made 27 saves.
RUSSIA 3, DENMARK 2 – SO
First period powerplay goals from Oliver Bjorkstrand (Portland Winterhawks) and Nikolaj Ehlers (Halifax Mooseheads) gave Denmark a 2-0 lead over the favoured Russians, but Denmark wasn’t able to sustain their momentum late as Russia took a 3-2 shootout decision.
Former Sarnia Sting forward Nikolay Goldobin responded with 47 seconds remaining in the second period for Russia and Maxim Mamin tied the score at 7:07 of the third as the two clubs battled into overtime.
After overtime solved nothing, Russian shootout goals from Sergey Tolchinsky (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) and Goldobin gave them the victory despite a hard fought effort from Denmark.
Despite being outshot 40-26, Denmark proved to be a challenge for Russia as Bjorkstrand had a goal and an assist in the game and Ehlers was a constant offensive threat.
For full coverage of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, including updates and schedules, visit worldjunior2015.com or hockeycanada.ca.