#51/2013 IIHF WJC Blog

Biscuits and Breezers

World Junior Championships:

Day 3

             

           Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Today we had 4 games between lower level teams and hockey super powers. We had two MAJOR rivals compete today. Those two teams were Russia vs. the USA. The score was pretty low for what I thought these two teams would accomplish but it is understandable because they were incredibly matched. Another game was between reigning champion Sweden  and underdogs Team Switzerland. Yes these teams might not have been a great pair to go up against but a) it had to happen and b) Switzerland put their best efforts out on the ice. The next game was Canada vs. Slovakia. Slovakia gave a gold medal favorite team quite a scare today trying to gain a tournament spot and knock off some of the big dogs. One of the final games today was Czech Republic vs. Finland. Now this was a big surprise because we know that the Czechs haven't been doing so hot lately, but they gathered up all their strength and beat a major competitor in this tournament. I am really looking forward to Sunday because Team USA goes up against to the rivals from the North; Canada. Personally, I also want to see when Sweden goes up against Finland because of my heritage really. I don't know when that game is though. Does anyone? If you do PLEASE comment in the comment section down below so I can watch it! What games are you guys looking forward to? Comment below in the comment section also! Thanks! I could go on about rivalries in this tournament that go decades back but, I am going to leave it there and get to the game reviews! Here we go!

Game 1 - Czech Republic vs. Finland

      This was a major surprise for only the third day of play. The Czech Republic took this game 3-1 leaving Team Finland in the dust. Finland is slowing becoming a Group A favorite for their outstanding victories over Canada  and the USA in the pre-tournament games. Losing to Sweden 4-1 the first day of play and Finland winning over Latvia 5-1, the Czechs really weren't favorited to accomplish anything and just take another loss today. But as we all know from the 1980 Lakes Placid team, anything can happen. Tomas Hyka opened the scoring 14 minutes in of playing in the first period and fellow team mate Marek Hrbas doubled the lead for the Czechs 2 minutes later. Star Finnish player and one of my personal favorite draft picks Teuvo Teravainen scored Finland's only goal in this game and only his second of the tournament early into the second period. Patrik Bartosak, goaltender for Team Czech Republic, carried his team to victory by blocking 29 out 30 shots and ultimately stunned the Finns. Dmitrij Jaskin scored the last goal for the Czechs in an empty netter just seconds before the buzzer to end the first major upset of the tournament. Many of the bandwagoners are probably wondering which team to go to now. Well one thing is for sure. Expect the unexpected. That might sound cheesy but it's amazing what a day of rest can do for a team. Finland faces off against Switzerland tomorrow and the Czech Republic goes against Lativa tomorrow as well and it is suspected that this game will be an easy win for the Czechs. Who knows? We'll find out tomorrow.

Game 2 - Canada vs. Slovakia

        This is the second time in a row that an under dog team Latvia gave a gold medal favored team quite a scare. They led Canada for nearly half the game before being overwhelmed with force from a much more powerful team and resulting with Canada winning 6-3. Their first scare was with Team Russia forcing them into overtime and unfortunately losing 2-3. The Canadians needed to overcome the "weaker" teams in order to look ahead to major competitors like Russia and the USA. Mark Dano scored early on in the game with a rebound to completely make Canada rethink their game plan. Shortly thereafter Canadian winger J.C. Lipon was ejected from the game giving Slovakia a power play advantage, to which Tomas Mikus took full power of scoring once more for the Slovakians.  Ryan Strome landed one in the net not long after Mikus but the Canadians wouldn't score for quite a while proceeding this. After this play however Canadian winger Anthony Camara was ejected from the game for a literal bone-crushing blow that landed Slovakian player Patrik Luza in the hospital, in turn giving Slovakia another 5 minute power play. Mark Dano scored his second goal of the game giving the lead back to the Slovakians with 2 goals. From here on out though it was the Canada's turn. Canadian defenseman Morgan Rielly scored cutting the lead in half with an assist from Mark Scheifele midway through the second period. Xavier Ouellet fed the biscuit to Ty Rattie who found the back of the net less than four minutes later. Now it was all tied up. Xavier Ouellet scored for Canada with an assist from Mark Scheifele to give Team Canada a one goal lead before the second intermission. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ryan Strome then scored the last two goals for Canada. Boosting their stats and sealing the victory. Some concerns were raised about Canada's situation but for now it looks as if they are comfortable where they are at right now in Group B. Taking tomorrow off, Slovakia will face off against Germany in a must-win game on Sunday and Canada will be taking on The USA the same day. Team Canada is still awaiting news from the IIHF if J.C. Lipon and Anthony Camara will be suspended along with fellow forward Boone Jenner. If they are, Canada will only have 11 forwards to go up against the Americans on Sunday.

Game 3 - Sweden vs. Switzerland

    This was a very close game with Switzerland pushing the Swedes to the edge. But in the end Sweden prevailed winning 3-2  It made the public and other teams alike that the Swiss' 7-1 win over Latvia was no mistake. They mean business. Eliot Antonietti beat Swedish goaltender Joel Lassinantti to make the lead 1-0 for Switzerland at the end of the first period. Sebastian Collberg tied it up for Team Sweden with his second goal of the tournament halfway through the second period, but Switzerland kept pushing and pushing Sweden. Mike Kunzle of Switzerland returned the lead to the Swiss with his third goal in two games. He is now tied with Canadians Ryan Strome and Mark Scheifele for the most goals in the tournament. 6 minutes into the third period Sweden's own Emil Djuse tied everything up again when he got one past the Swiss. His goal would ultimately make the game go into overtime and no scoring was seen during this extra frame. For this first time in the tournament, a shoot out was called. Swiss goaltender Melvin Nyffeler saved 36 shots in regulation time and 2 in the shoot out before Victor Rask of Sweden found the back of the net on Sweden's third attempt. Joel Lassinantti was replaced with Niklas Lundstrom for the shoot out and he denied every attempt to set Sweden on top in Group A with 5 points. Sweden is the only undefeated team in Group A and has secured the inside track to a knockout phase. Sweden could crush Latvia tomorrow to clinch their knockout berth. Switzerland will face off against new found rival Finland Sunday after a needed day of rest.

Game 4 - Russia vs. USA

     Russia scored a much need Group B victory over the USA today winning 2-1. This was Team USA's second day of playing after shutting out Germany yesterday. Team Russia was well rested after their overtime win against Slovakia on Wednesday. First off, a very smart decision was made by the Russians to put Andrey Makarov in the net first instead of Andrey Vasilevskiy who played terrific against Slovakia. Team USA, underestimating Russia's power, came out fast with multiple goal chances from the trio consisting of J.T. Miller, Rocco Grimaldi, and Jonny Gaudreau but  Russian Albin Yarullin scored first despite the tight control of the Americans. Yarullin scored the overtime winning goal against Slovakia. It took him multiple tries to finally get the puck past American goaltender John Gibson. After this goal, both teams seemed to uphold their ends of the ice with each team picking up the slack. Finally, Team USA was given a taste of goal from Jacob Trouba's stick during a power play late in the second. This is his second goal of the tournament. Possibly feeling panicked, top Russian prospect for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft Valeri Nichushkin assisted on the game winning goal for Russia. The rebound projected by his shot was slid under Gibson's pads by Vladimir Tkachyov. In possible Deja Vu for Russia, they had a horrible penalty. The Americans tried to use the penalty to their advantage but just couldn't due to the skills of impeccable goaltender Andrey Makarov. Team USA also had to rely on their goaltender John Gibson to fend of the goal hungry Russian team. The USA still has a chance to make it to the top of Group B but they will face off against major rival Team Canada on Sunday before they can achieve that goal. Team Russia takes on last place Germany tomorrow.

3 Stars of the Game

1. Andrey Makarov Russia
     Despite being seated on the bench for most of Russia's games so far behind Andrey Vasilevskiy, Makarov did impeccable today saving 41 shots for the host country. Probably one of best his moments of the night was when he had to face a 6 on 4 game in the final minute of the game. Fellow goaltender Vasilevskiy could not do this against Slovakia

2. Patrik Bartosak Czech Republic
      On a night made of wins due to great goaltending, Patrik put up the best performance on the ice tonight. Saving 29 out of 30 shots from Finland, he stole a much needed win away from favored Team Finland. This win could potentially put the Czech Republic in the knock out stages.

3. Mark Scheifele Canada
       Being a very dominant and key winger for Canada, he played an excellent game that led to a come-from behind victory. He assisted on Morgan Rielly's and Xavier Ouellet's goals to have Canada take the lead from Slovakia tonight.

IIHF Tournament Group Standings:

Group A         GP        W       OTW     OTL      L      GF       GA      Pts  
      
Sweden             2           1          1           0          0       7          3           5

Switzerland        2          1          0            1          0       9          5          4

Finland              2          1          0            0         1        6          4          3

Czech                2         1          0           0           1        4          5         3
Republic

Latvia                2          0        0          0           2        3          12        0

Group B           GP       W     OTW     OTL     L       GF       GA      Pts

Canada               2          2         0            0         0       15         6          6

Russia                 2          1         1            0         0         5         3          5

USA                   2          1         0            0          1        9         2          3

Slovakia              2           0        0            1          1        5         9          1

Germany             2          0         0            0           2        3         17        0