Day 1 of the 2015 World Junior Championships in in the books.
The opening day of the 2015 World Junior Championships in Montreal and Toronto is over, and it went basically how you would expect.
There was a lot of sloppy play early on in all the games, with teams settling down a bit as the games went on.
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The day opened up with Russia playing 2014 IIFH Division 1 champions Denmark. Russia honestly isn’t going into this tournament as anything special, but they looked very sloppy early on. Denmark took advantage of Russia’s undisciplined play and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with powerplay goals from Bjorkstrand and Ehlers. Russia settled down a bit after the first and added a powerplay goal of their own from Goldobin. Russia tied the game early in the third on a goal from Mamin. The game needed a shootout to decide the game, which Russia won after just two round. Although, Goldibin’s winning goal was flubbed and a bit lucky it went in.
Russia (1-0-0) will play next on Sunday at 5 PM (ET) against Switzerland (plays first game Saturday). Denmark (0-0-1) will play Sweden (1-0-0) Saturday at 1 PM (ET).
The second game featured the United States facing off against the defending champions Finland. This one had the makings of a tight game, and that’s exactly what it was. It didn’t start off like that though, as Finland jumped out to an early 1-0 lead off a bank shot from behind the net from Rantanen. The shot went off a U.S. defenseman, off goaltender Thatcher Demko and into the net. An unlucky play for the U.S., but they would tie the game up later in the period on the powerplay. Tuch buried a nice centering pass from Jack Eichel to make it 1-1. The rest of the game was a stalemate with each team unable to capitalize on their chances. This game would also need a shootout, which the U.S. won in 3 rounds.
The United States (1-0-0) will play next on Sunday at 8 PM (ET) against Germany (plays first game Saturday). Finland (0-0-1) will play Slovakia (0-1-0) on Saturday at 4 PM (ET).
The third game of the day featured 2014 runner-ups Sweden against the Czech Republic. This game was probably the sloppiest of them all, where the two teams just traded turnovers for most of the first period. No team was able to capitalize though, until late in the first period when Sweden got goals from Kempe on the powerplay and then another from Looke to head into the second up 2-0. The Czechs would fight back in the second, as Jakub Vrana single-handedly tied the game up with a pair of goals. It didn’t stay tied for long tho, as William Nylander put the Swedes up for good just 27 seconds after Vrana’s second goal. Sweden would add another powerplay goal from Kempe, as well as a goal from captain de la Rose in the third period and win the game 5-2.
Sweden (1-0-0) will play next on Saturday at 1PM (ET) (currently in progress on NHL Network) against Denmark (0-0-1). The Czech Republic will also play next on Saturday at 5 PM (ET) against Switzerland (plays first game Saturday).
The main event of the night belonged to hometown favorites Canada against Slovakia. While Slovakia is going into this tournament just hoping to make the playoff round, Canada looked like finely tuned Canadian machine. From start to finish they dominated Slovakia, out-shooting them 34-12 on the night. They were led by Fabbri, who recorded four points on the night. Canada got goals from Fabbri (2), Duclair, Paul, Point, Domi, Petan, and Virtanen. Zach Fucale didn’t look too sharp in net for the Canadians to be honest, as he was flopping around like a fish out of water at times. Lucky for him, he didn’t need to be too sharp on this night. The real scary thing about all this, is that the Canadians beat Slovakia 8-0 with Connor McDavid essentially being a non-factor, as he didn’t record a single point.
The Canadians (1-0-0) will be in action next Saturday at 8 PM (ET) against Germany (plays first game Saturday). Slovakia (0-1-0) will also play next on Saturday at 4 PM (ET) against Finland (0-0-1)
Should be a great second day of hockey on Saturday.
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