*Photo from the Winnipeg Free Press*
Sunday night in the Canadian Province of Alberta saw the first day of action for the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championships. Since there's no NHL to recap right now, let's take a look at all 4 games played on Sunday, with brief recaps for all of them.
Finland vs Germany
The first game of the 2022 World Juniors saw Finland pitted against Germany. The defending bronze medal squad, Finland made no mistake in their first action back. They beat Germany for the 12th straight time in World Junior play.
The star for the Fins was Samuel Helenius, drafted with the 59th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft by the Los Angeles Kings. Helenius scored two of the Finland goals as they picked up a 3-1 win. Center and University of Vermont skater Joel Maatta scored the game winning goal in the second period for the Fins, with Brad Lambert adding two assists. Leevi Merilainen stopped 23 shots for the win.
The drought against Finland continues for Germany, who just couldn't get anything going in this game to fall to 0-1 in WJC play. Oilers 2021 3rd round pick Luca Munzenberger provided the only goal for the Germans, with Nikita Quapp saving 19 shots.
Up next, Finland gets a matchup with Austria on Monday, while Germany takes on Czechia.
Sweden vs Russia
Up next on the docket was a matchup between Sweden and Russia. Sweden was looking for a better start to this year's WJC after finishing in 5th place last season, and they got the start they were looking for, toppling Russia with a 6-3 win.
All 6 Sweden goals came from different skaters. Emil Andrade, Alexander Holtz, Simon Edvinsson, Oskar Olausson, Theodor Niederbach and Daniel Ljungman picked up the Sweden goals, with William Eklund and Helge Grans each dishing out two assists. Two 5 on 3 power play goals, one 5 on 4 power play goal, and one shorthanded goal was the recipe for Sweden, with Jesper Wallstedt saving 27 shots in net.
The Russians got two of their goals from 17 year old phenom Matvei Michkov, and one from Fyodor Svechkov, but they ultimately could not best the Swedes, who took control of the game in the second period and didn't look back. Yaroslav Askarov allowed 3 goals on 16 shots before he was pulled after two periods, with Yegor Guskov responsible for two goals after he relief Askarov.
Up next, Russia looks to get their first win of the WJC as they take on Switzerland on Monday, while Sweden faces off against Slovakia.
Canada vs Czechia
The 3rd game of the day saw host nation Canada take on Czechia in Edmonton. The host of the 2022 WJC did not want to be denied in the first game, overcoming a 3-1 deficit to rally and beat Czechia 6-3. The Canadians are looking to rebound from a second place finish in last year's WJC, and this is a good start in that direction.
Canada defenseman and first overall pick in last year's NHL Draft Owen Power provided a hat trick for the Canadians, becoming the first Canadian D-Man in WJC history to record a hat trick. Fellow top draft pick Mason McTavish added a goal and an assist, and D-Men Donovan Sebrango and Olen Zellweger scored goals as well, with Cole Perfetti adding 3 assists. Goalie Dylan Garand saved 14 shots in net.
After changing their nation's hockey name to Czechia, it was a rough game for the Czechs, who were done in by two power play goals from Power. Michal Gut picked up a goal and an assist, with Stanislav Svozil and Pavel Novak also scoring goals for the Czechs, as they try to bounce back from 3 straight 7th place finishes. Devils goalie prospect Jakub Malek saved 30 shots.
Up next, Canada takes on Austria on Monday, while Czechia faces Germany.
USA vs Slovakia
If you're the Americans, coming in as defending WJC champions, you want to make a statement early on. So they did exactly that. Slovakia was no match for the USA, as the Americans won by a 3-2 score in the last of the opening day games for the 2022 WJC championship. It was an early 3-0 lead by the USA that powered them to a win.
The first goal of the night for the Americans came courtesy of Matthew Knies in the first period. Just a few moments after, Mackie Samoskevich made it a 2-0 USA lead. Landon Slaggert scored the game winning goal, while Drew Commesso saved 23 shots as the Americans held off a late Slovakia comeback attempt.
Slovakia got both their goals in the game from Martin Chromiak, who scored twice in the 3rd period, but Slovakia couldn't get the tying goal. They were outshot by the U.S. 42-25 in the opening game, with Simon Latkoczy keeping the Slovaks in the game by making 39 saves in goal.
Up next, Slovakia faces off against Sweden on Monday, with the U.S. getting a day off before playing Switzerland on Tuesday.
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