A recap of what happened during day 3 of the 2015 World Junior Championship.
There were only two games on the schedule for day 3 of the tournament. Both games were not too competitive either, as both games were complete blowouts.
The first game of the day was between Russia and Switzerland, two teams that both won their opening games. Russia had narrowly escaped a feisty Denmark team in a shootout by a score of 3-2 on opening day of the tournament, whole the Swiss were coming off a decisive 5-2 win over the Czech Republic less than 24 hours before the start of this game against the Russians.
Switzerland seemed to be putting on the pressure on Russia early. The Swiss were dictating play and being very physical. That all changed when the Swiss took a penalty about halfway through the first period. The Russians were able to capitalize on the powerplay and go up 1-0. The Swiss seemed to bounce back though and continue putting on the pressure, but two late first period goals by the Russians seemed to put a dagger in the hearts of the Swiss.
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The Swiss had their moments in the second, especially on a beautiful passing play on the powerplay in the second that should have resulted in a goal, but were not able to capitalize. The Russians, however, were able to capitalize on their chances. They scored two more late period goals in the second to extend their lead to 5-0. To make matters worse for the Swiss, defenseman Phil Baltisberger was taken off on a stretcher after being blind-sided by a Russian defender. The Russians added two more late period goals in the third to ultimately win the game 7-0 with goals from Rafikov, Dergachyov, Buchnevich, Tolchinsky, Sharov, Kamenev, and Leschenko.
The Russians (2-0-0) will play next on Monday at 5 P.M. (ET) against Sweden (2-0-0). The Swiss (1-1-0) will look to have a better outcome against Denmark (0-1-1) on Tuesday at 5 P.M. (ET).
The second and final game of the day was between the United States and Germany. The United States were coming off a gutsy 2-1 shootout win over defending champions Finland. Germany was coming of a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Canadians just the night before.
The United States dominated this game from start to finish. Playing less than 24 hours between games, I’m sure the Germans were a bit tired. The United States took advantage, and jumped out to a 1-0 lead less than 5 minutes into the game on a great wrap-around goal by Austin Mathews. That would be all the U.S. would need, as they ultimately won the game 6-0.
The U.S. dictated the play throughout the entire game, and goaltender Brandon Halverson was sharp when he needed to be. The U.S. out-shot the Germans 53-14. If it wasn’t for the miraculous play of German goaltender Ilja Sharipov, it very well could have been 20-0. That is not even an exaggeration. The United States were that dominant in this match.
The highlight of the game though, was most likely Jack Eichel’s sublime wrap-around goal. Eichel showed why he is projected to go in the top 2 in this year’s NHL draft. The U.S. also received goals from Mathews (previously stated), Fasching, Milano, and Larkin (2).
The United States (2-0-0) will be in action next on Monday at 4 P.M. (ET) against Slovakia (1-1-0) . Germany (0-2-0) will also play Slovakia next on Tuesday at 8 P.M. (ET), where they will look to score their first goal of the tournament.
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