#84/2014 IIHF WJC Blog

Biscuits and Breezers

World Junior Championships:
Day 2

   

    Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers and Day 2 of the IIHF World Junior Championships! There were two games played in Malmo yesterday and that was Slovakia vs. Germany and Finland vs. Norway. Most of the teams that we saw on the first day are able to have time to regain their strengths and rethink their strategies in this tournament, but day 2 was the first showcase of Team Finland's amazing young talent. Team Germany and Norway both lost their initial games on Day 1 and Norway had the challenging task of facing off against a fresh new Finnish team with an already devastating 11-0 loss to Team Russia reminding them that it's survival of the fittest. Team Germany is coming off of a 7-2 blow from Team Canada and is facing off against Slovakia in their 2014 debut. Team Finland is looking very strong this year with many draftees on hand including their star players Teuvo Teravainen and Artturi Lehkonen. It will be interesting to see if these teams can rally from their losses and start climbing up the stats board.  As I said before, two games were played on the 27th and Game 1 would be Slovakia vs. Germany and Game 2 featured Finland vs. Norway. Let's get to the game reviews!

Game 1 - Slovakia vs. Germany

  Being placed in the Malmo Isstadion, Slovakia decided to score in droves early in the game to hopefully make a jump over another obstacle in the race for a playoff position and a potential gold. The end of the game resulted in a 9-2 win over Team Germany. With a 0-2 record so far in these games, it appears that Team Germany is on their way to relegation unless they can pick up some points before January 1st.  Slovakia's captain opened the scoring for the Slovaks when Milan Kolena scored on Marvin Cupper, who we saw in Game 1 against Canada, at 3:33 into the first period on a power play goal. 2013 Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick Marko Dano found the back of the net for his own goal at 12:38 in the first and upped the score for a 2-0 lead. David Griger for Slovakia once again beat Cupper and recorded a power play goal for a new score of 3-0 over the Germans. Marko Dano once showed his skills again when he put the biscuit in the basket at 1:57 into the second period. Scrambling to get on the board, Germany's Dominik Kahun scored for his home country 41 seconds later when he deked out Slovakian tendy Richard Sabol with help of Leon Draisaitl. 2 more Slovakian goals came midway through the second period from Milan Kolena and Daniel Gachulinec. These two points also placed Marvin Cupper on the bench and favored back up Patrick Klein in the cage. Kahun scored his second goal of the game and Team Germany's last point to make it 6-2 when Sabol was beat out of his crease at 5:56 in the third period. Like normal fashion, Martin Reway and Mario Lunter scored 40 seconds apart to lift Slovakia to an 8-2 lead. The last goal of the game came from the blade of Stanislav Horansky at 2:30 left in the third period to neatly close the scoring for this match up. Primary goalie for Team Slovakia Richard Sabol stopped 19 out of 21 shots. Marvin Cupper for Team Germany saved 13 out of 19 shots but was quickly replaced by Patrick Klein who saved 6 out of 9 total shots. So far undefeated Team Slovakia will play it's second game on the 28th against the undefeated Team USA and Germany, suffering from 2 losses already, will also play against Team USA in their next game on the 29th. 

Game 2 Finland vs. Norway

   Team Finland gave Norway its second loss of the tournament with a devastating final score of 5-1 in favor of the Finns at Malmo Arena. In their debut game, Finland showed what they were really all about which is quick plays, sharp puck movements, and a brutal physical force. Already being crushed by Team Russia and now by Team Finland, Norway needs to pick up it's baggage or they have a one-way ticket to the relegation rounds. The Finns are hopeful for a revival in this year's standings after a 7th place finish in the 2013 games. Finland opened the scoring with a beauty of a goal from Canadiens prospect Artturi Lehkonen when he scored with only 47 seconds left in the first period. His power line mates consisting of Teravainen and Maenalanen assisted on this power play goal. This trio also produced the second goal of the game for a 2-0 lead when Saku Maenalanen shot a wrister past Norway's goaltender Joachim Svendsen at 2:57 into the second period.  Maenalanen got his second goal of the game at 14:19 when a successful rush by Saku and Ville Pokka produced a 3-0 lead. Less than a minute later Joni Nikko was set up by Rasmus Kulmala for another beautiful goal and an even more impressive 4-0 lead. Opening the third period scoring game, Ville Leskinen gave Finland a much needed 5-0 lead when his shot went high. Tim-Robin Johnsgard scored Norway's lone goal with 3:08 left in regulation and ended Predators prospect Juuse Saros shut out hopes. This was the sixth straight loss to Finland for Norway in World Junior record. Team Finland out shot the Norwegian 48-29 throughout the entire game. Juuse Saros stopped 28 out of 29 shots for Team Finland and Joachim Svendsen stopped 43 out of 48 shots. Team Finland will play again on the 28th in a huge rival game against the host country Sweden and Norway is able to rest until the 29th when they too will play a huge game against the Swedish hosts. 

Scoring Leaders:

1. David Griger 4 pts - Slovakia

1. Martin Reway 4 pts - Slovakia

3. Anthony Mantha 3 pts - Canada

3 players tied for 4th:

4. Marko Dano 3 pts - Slovakia

4. Milan Kolena 3 pts - Slovakia
4. Saku Maenalanen 3 pts - Finland

7. Dominik Kahun 3 pts - Germany

Assist Leaders:

1. Jonathan Drouin 3 pts - Canada

1. David Griger 3 pts - Slovakia

1. Martin Reway 3 pts - Slovakia

9 players tied for 4th with 2 pts each:

4. Pavel Buchnevich 2 pts - Russia

4. Peter Cehlarik 2 pts - Slovakia

4. Jacob de la Rose 2 pts - Sweden

4. Filip Forsberg 2 pts - Sweden

4. Mikhail Grigorenko 2 pts - Russia

4. Ilya Lyubushkin 2 pts - Russia

4. Connor McDavid 2 pts - Canada

4. Derrick Pouliot 2 pts - Canada

4. Damir Zhafyarov 2 pts - Russia

Goalkeepers:

1. Ivan Nalimov 0 GAA, 1 S% - Russia

1. Andrei Vasilevski 0 GAA, 1 S% - Russia

3. Juuse Saros 1 GAA, .965 S% - Finland 

4. Jon Gilles 1 GAA, .958 S% - USA

5. Jake Paterson 2 GAA, .917 S% - Canada

Penalty Leaders:

1. Ludvig Hoff 12 PIMs - Norway

5 players tied with 4 PIMs each:

2. Pavel Buchnevich 4 PIMs - Russia

2. Connor Carrick 4 PIMs - USA

2. Kevin Fiala 4 PIMs - Switzerland

2. Taylor Leier 4 PIMs - Canada

2. Oskar Sundqvist 4 PIMs - Sweden

  Thanks for reading another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Every blog will be filled with updated hockey news, player reviews, and much more! Until next time remember, don't get your breezers in a bunch because hockey is always around the corner. Remember, it's always a great day for hockey and it's a lifestyle not just a sport!