Game Recaps: January 2, 2018

By BuffaloWorldJuniors.com Staff

Posted 1/2/18

United States 4 – Russia 2

By Aaron Cheris

 

Team USA kept its dream of repeating as gold medalists alive with a 4-2 win over Russia on Tuesday night at KeyBank Center.

Kieffer Bellows led the way for the United States by scoring two goals, including the game-winner late in the third period to send the United States to the semifinals against Sweden.

 

“We got off to a good start and our penalty kill was very good, and then it was a war to the end, and that’s what we expect in a game like that,” U.S. coach Bob Motzko said.

 

“It was definitely a huge win. Kieffer Bellows with an awesome performance, there’s a lot of guys who stepped up,” said American forward Brady Tkachuk. “We were all confident and we knew we were going to win the game. We’re happy with the outcome.”

 

The United States came out of the gate flying, dominating in the first period by outshooting Russia 18-6, but only led 2-1 after an exciting first 20 minutes.

 

On an early power play, the U.S. got the game’s first goal as Tkachuk slid the puck to Bellows, who buried a one-timer past Russian goalie Vladislav Sukhachyov to give the Americans the early lead.

“A shot got blocked, I saw [Bellows] out of the corner of my eye and I threw it over to him. I know he’s got an awesome shot, and he put that in,” Tkachuk said of the goal.

 

Early, the Americans brought all the pressure, recording the game’s first seven shots and holding Russia without an attempt at goal for the first seven minutes of the game. 

 

However, when Russia got its second shot, they found twine. Seconds after killing off a penalty, the Russians got the puck to Marsel Sholokhov. The forward drive hard down the right wing and lifted a backhander past team USA goalie Joseph Woll to even the score at 1-1.

 

The Americans retook the lead just over four minutes later on a tremendous individual effort by Kailer Yamamoto, who scored on his second shot while falling down to make it 2-1 United States after one period.

 

Late in the period, tempers flared as Vladislav Syomin was given a five minute major and a game misconduct for a high hit to the head of American forward Max Jones, leaving the Russians a defenseman short for the rest of the game. But Syomin’s teammates killed off the penalty, keeping the deficit at one goal.

 

The Americans kept the one-goal lead after two, but not without a tremendous period from Woll. Less than four minutes in, he lunged to his right and got a pad on Viitali Abramov’s shot from right in front to protect the advantage. Team USA also killed off two penalties in the second to hold a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.

 

“It’s a confidence booster,” Woll said of the save. “I think it’s more important to give the guys a little bit of momentum and swing the momentum our way.”

Russia regained the momentum. Andrei Altybarmakyan got the puck in his own end and burst down the wing, beating American defender Adam Fox to the middle of the ice, and then tucked a backhand past Woll on the breakaway to even the score at two.  

 

“The bench stayed positive. We just kept the bench lively and going,” Bellows said.

 

With less than eight minutes to go, Dylan Sandberg’s hard dump in to the Russian zone sent the puck bouncing off the boards. With the puck in the faceoff circle, Bellows stepped into a slap shot that beat Russian goaltender Vladislav Sukhachyov to give team USA a 3-2 lead. The goal was Bellows’ tournament-leading sixth.

 

“Dylan made a great play dumping the puck in and keeping it simple late in the game,” Bellows said. “I knew the boards were lively behind the net so I thought I’d just forecheck hard and I knew where I wanted to put it and luckily enough, it went in.”

 

In the final minutes, the Russians had their best chance to get even as a deflection hit the post behind Woll, but that would be as close as Russia got.

 

American captain Joey Anderson put the final nail in the Russians’ coffin with an empty net in the final minute, giving the United States a win over Russia in an elimination game for the second straight year.

 

Woll stopped 27 of 29 Russian shots to earn the win, and his coach couldn’t be prouder of the performance.

 

“He wants to be in there badly and he wants to do the right things. I like how he bounced back tonight, and he needed to do that,” Motzko said. “In a game like this, you need to stand tall after you get knocked down, and he did that.”

 

With the loss, Russia’s streak of medaling in seven straight tournaments comes to an end. The Untied States will play Sweden in the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Thursday at KeyBank Center.

 

 

Sweden 3 – Slovakia 2

By Alec Gearty

 

Despite its top line being held scoreless, Sweden earned a berth in the semi-finals of the World Junior Championship.

 

Forwards Isac Lundestrom and Fabian Zetterlund combined for three points en route to Sweden’s 3-2 win over Slovakia

 

“I think Slovakia played really good,” Sweden’s head coach Tomas Monten said. “They play to their strengths and they got the game where they wanted it to go…but in the end, it comes down to winning.”

 

Sweden and Slovakia exchanged missed opportunities in a relatively lifeless opening period that remained scoreless. The Swedes ended the period with momentum in their grasps as they outshot Slovakia 12-4.

 

Slovakia looked to have kept pace with the upstart Swedes. It only took Sweden nine seconds to properly respond in the second period.

 

Lundestrom, who was itching for a goal, scored at the 51-second mark to give Sweden its all-important lead. Through its last five games, Sweden had either led or held a share of the lead for over 300 minutes; the Swedes weren’t going to relinquish it either.

 

Zetterlund extended Sweden’s lead shortly after Lundestrom’s goal. Zetterlund, who led Sweden with three shots on goal throughout the first period, made for one of the more attention grabbing goals of the tournament.

 

As he corralled the puck in Sweden’s defensive zone, Zetterlund peeled towards Roman Durney, splitting the defense in the process, for his second goal of the World Junior Championship. Sweden continued to increase its offensive output as it more than doubled Slovakia’s shot production, 24-7, at the time of the goal.

 

The tallies by Lundestrom and Zetterlund gave the team’s first line a form of relief. Sweden’s top line. Lias Andersson and Elias Pettersson combined have a total of 12 points, leading all Swedish skaters but Slovakia held the two pointless on Tuesday. It provides Monten with a feeling of solace that his team has a surplus of scoring options.

 

“That line can easily win the next game for us,” Monten said of the duo. “It’s not like it’s just a checking line. It’s a line with really good players. They have speed, they can play and they’re strong on the puck.

 

“We want to look for three lines to score and put up points, and make us a winning team.”

 

Andersson’s status was left undetermined leading up to the game. He suffered a shoulder injury against Russia on Dec. 31 but, despite being pointless, Andersson wouldn’t allow the injury to keep him out of action.

 

“He’s not 100 percent. He’s not where he wants to be,” Monten said. “But he said, ‘I want to play’ and we said, ‘OK.’ We tried to help him and get him in the game and the feeling was that he’s really important for us on the bench and in the locker room.

 

“That’s the player he is. I think he really came through for us today.”

 

Just as the Swedes took over the game, they allowed Slovakia back in it as well.

 

While Rasmus Dahlin served a delay of game penalty, Martin Bodak took advantage to put Slovakia on the board. It not only ended Filip Gustavsson’s shutout bid but the captain’s tally gave the Slovaks life entering the final period.

 

Despite two quick power play opportunities, Slovakia’s special teams faltered. When it appeared that Slovakia was bound for a game-tying tally, Lundestrom struck again for his second goal of the night to give Sweden a 3-1 lead.

 

Slovakia, more notably its captain, wasn’t going down so easily. Bodak scored his second goal of the game to keep Slovakia within reach of a tie. Ultimately, the tally was the closest Slovakia came.

 

The Swedes will face the United States on Thursday night with a berth in the gold medal game on the line.

 

 

Canada 8 – Switzerland 2

By Ryan Evans

 

Heavily favored Canada got itself started early and cruised into the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship semifinals with an 8-2 rout of an overmatched Switzerland team in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round at KeyBank Center.

 

Semifinal appearances have become routine in hockey proud Canada. This is the country’s second straight trip to the tournament’s final four and its 20th in 22 tries since the playoff round format was adopted for the 1996 event.

 

Any thought of a Switzerland upset was squashed early as Canada opened the scoring just 48 seconds into the contest courtesy of forward Brett Howden and staked itself to a three-goal, 3-0, lead after one period.

 

“We tried but it was a bad start,” Switzerland head coach Christian Wohlwend said. “You guys saw it and everybody saw it. They are just way better than us.”

 

The Canadians added three more in the second and two in the third to round out their scoring. Howden finished with a team-high four points (1+3) to lead Canada’s attack. In addition, forward Drake Batherson notched a brace, forward Maxime Comtois finished with three points (1+2) and defenseman Cale Makar tallied two points en route to Player of the Game honors to lead Canada’s attack.

 

Makar, the fourth pick of the 2017 NHL Draft, seems to be settling into a nice groove. The Colorado Avalance prospect has goals in three straight games and ranks second among tournament blue liners with six points (3+3).

 

The Calgary, Alberta native credits the freedom granted to him by his coaches for his offensive outburst. In order to create a layered attack, Canada has given its defenders the green light to jump up into the rush and it has paid off, especially for Makar.

 

“I have been given a few opportunities that I wasn’t early on,” he said. “You have to take advantage of what they give you. I accept any role on the team, but I have to take advantage of the opportunities I get.”

 

Switzerland twice cut its deficit to four, 5-1 and 6-2 in the second and third periods, respectively, but that was as close as it came. The Swiss iced 13 underage players in this year’s tournament and Wohlend said that he hopes that group will learn from its experience in Buffalo and return re-energized in 2018.

 

“I told (my players) that it is a big stage for them,” Wohlwend said. “It’s always a chance when you can play a quarterfinal against Canada, but you have to play better.”

 

“Our young players now have 12 months to prepare themselves and hopefully be more competitive next year in Vancouver.”

 

Canada’s potent attack monopolized possession and out-shot Switzerland by a commanding, 60-15, margin. It has now scored 28 goals in five games, which is the tournament’s best mark.

 

What makes the Canadian offense so dangerous, though, is how many ways it can beat you. No one Canada player stands out on the score sheet, but it boasts unparalleled depth. Its 28 goals have been balanced among 14 players and 19 of its 20 skaters have scored at least a point.

 

That trend continued against Switzerland as Canada had seven different goal scorers and 12 point-getters.

 

“We have so much confidence in any guy or any line that is out there,” Howden said. “It is a wave no matter which line is on the ice. We just keep coming and coming and that is how we need to play.”

 

Canada’s win sets up a showdown with the plucky Czech Republic in the semifinals with a trip to the gold medal game on the line. The two sides will match up on Thursday at KeyBank Center.

 

 

Czech Republic 4 – Finland 3 (SO)

By Jim Christopher

 

The Czech Republic looked outmatched and overpowered this afternoon against Finland. They were nearly outshot by a two to one margin, 55-29 and spent a good amount of time on their heels defending.

They had difficulty getting the puck out of their zone and never really had any offensive consistency brewing.

 

But that didn’t matter.

 

Thanks to a two-goal game from Filip Zadina, including a late game-tying goal, and a 52-save performance from Josef Korenar, the Czech Republic were able to battle back and hang on to defeat Finland 4-3 (2-1) in a shootout. Kristian Reichel and Martin Necas scored in the shootout for the Czechs.

 

“We had a bigger heart because those guys were fighting for the win and they were really in the game from the beginning of the day,” said Czech Republic head coach Filip Pesan.

 

Pesan, who is no stranger to pulling his goaltender at unconventional times, yanked Jakub Skarek with over three minutes left in an effort to tie the game.

 

With Skarek sitting on the bench, Zadina parked himself in front only to redirect Jakub Galvas’ shot through the pads of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to tie it at 3-3 late in the third. His second goal of the game and sixth of the tournament was a microcosm of how his team had performed all week.

 

“It was a huge win. We played good today. I’m real happy we won. We deserved it. We played for so many minutes on the ice. There’s a reason why we won,” Zadina said. “Our chemistry on the team. We played how the coaches wanted.”

 

This recent stretch of competing together as a team has helped propel the Czech Republic to an unlikely semifinal berth.

 

“We play like a team. Before, we didn’t play like a team. It was individual,” Reichel said. “This year we’re like a group, we are like a team. We do things together. The group is very tight and that’s the key to the success.

 

Talk to any member of the Czech Republic team and they will be quick to point out that their success is due to a team effort. Taking pride in the little things like blocking shots, finishing checks and having the will to win is a major reason why the Czech’s now find themselves in the semifinals.

 

“We have a great big heart and we’re fighting,” Pesan said. “If you see those guys and you see it in their eyes they want to fight. They want to battle.”

 

‘We deserved it’ was a sentiment echoed by multiple Czech players after the game.

 

“This room of all these guys said we have to be like a team,” Necas said. “We played great. Many people didn’t expect us to be here.”

 

Finland controlled the majority of play in the first period, outshooting the Czech Republic 16-4 and spending most of the frame in the offensive zone. Despite several scoring chances, however, they were unable to reap any of the rewards. Their best opportunity came on the power-play after Eeli Tolvanen put a superb pass right at the feet of Aapeli Rasanen who ended up putting it wide near the end of the first. 

 

Special teams continued to be the catalyst for the Czech Republic offense when Zadina scored his fourth power-play goal of the tournament after slashing penalty committed by Urho Vaakanainen with 13:40 remaining in the first period.

 

Zadina, who is more of a shoot first, ask questions later type of player had a team-high seven shots on the day, including two of the team’s first four in the first period. Zadina led the preliminary round with 24 shots on goal.

 

While the power-play continued to be a strong portion of their game, the Czech Republic penalty kill again was a weakness. When the Czech’s killed their first penalty of the game, they played physical and remained disciplined in front of the net. Early in the second period, Finland again found themselves on the power-play and took advantage of it.

 

During a scramble in front of the net, Korenar failed to cover a loose puck on the top of the crease, allowing Rasanen the opportunity to scoop it up and put it in on the backhand.

 

The Czech’s currently have the second-worst penalty kill percentage in the tournament, sitting at 66.6 percent (14-for-21). That will need to be improved upon with Canada who has the highest power-play percentage (53.3 percent) lurking as their semifinal opponent.

 

Finland took their first lead of the game late in the second off of an Olli Juolevi seeing-eye wrist shot from the blue line that somehow made its way through four players and just over the glove of Korenar.

 

That lead was short lived following Radovan Pavlik finding Reichel in the neutral zone springing him on a breakaway opportunity that he was able to finish backhand over Luukkonen’s outstretched pad, tying the game at 2-2.

 

Kristian Vesalainen and Eeli Tolvanen combined for the Finland’s third goal near the halfway mark in the third period. Vesalainen initially attempted to set up Tolvanen for a one-timer but once that was denied, Tolvanen kicked it back to Vesalainen who found the back of the net.

 

When neither team was able to secure the victory in overtime the game had to be decided in a shootout. Korenear continued to look great, stopping four of five shooters while Reichel and Necas scored to help advance the Czech Republic.

 

The Czech Republic now move on to the semifinals where they will face Canada. The Czechs haven’t medaled in the World Junior Championships since 2005 when they took bronze.

 

 

Denmark 5 – Belarus 4

By Jeff Baker

 

With two goals in the final 34 seconds of the third period, Denmark shocked Belarus for a 5-4 comeback win to earn its first victory at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in Game 1 of the best-of-three relegation round at HarborCenter in Buffalo on Tuesday afternoon.

 

After pulling Denmark within 4-3 with 10:56 remaining, Joachim Blichfeld struck again with 33.8 seconds left on the clock to tie the game and help set up the wild finish.

 

“It’s one of the craziest games I’ve played,” Blichfeld said. “We found a way to fight back.”

 

A seventh-round selection by the San Jose Sharks in 2016, Blichfield has been one of Denmark’s best players throughout the World Juniors.

 

“He played great,” said Denmark goaltender Kasper Krog. “The guy’s dangling around out there. He sometimes just does what he wants to.”

 

It seemed the teams would be headed to overtime, but Andreas Grundtvig’s off-angle shot found the net 18 seconds later, capping off Denmark’s stunning regulation win while putting Belarus on the brink of being relegated.

 

“It’s never fun to let in four goals, but as long as we score five, I don’t really care,” Krog said. “It’s about the team and we won today. To be down 4-3 with half a minute remaining, it’s just crazy.”

 

Down three goals in the final minute of their preliminary round loss to Finland, Denmark showed a certain sticktoitiveness by still skating hard and blocking shots, a 60-minute focus that rewarded them with a win this time around.

 

“Everybody’s got a big heart, we love the game,” Blichfeld said. “We’re fighting for each other.”

 

The Danes opened the scoring with 4:04 left in the first period when Jonas Rondbjerg quickly pulled the trigger once the puck found his stick off a faceoff.

 

Less than a minute later, Denmark went up 2-0 to take their first two-goal lead of the tournament when Phillip Schultz’s shot trickled through the pads of Belarusian goalie Andrei Grishenko.

 

Belarus pulled within 2-1 just 1:01 into the second period after a defensive zone turnover behind the net allowed Ilya Litvinov to steal the puck and wrap it in past Krog for the shorthanded goal.

 

Defenseman Vladislav Yeryomenko, who plays for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen and had two assists in Belarus’ last game against the Czech Republic, evened the score at 2-2 with a power-play goal midway through the game.

 

Taking advantage of another Denmark turnover in its own zone, Ivan Drozdov got Belarus its second shorthanded goal of the game 1:14 into third period when he broke in alone on Krog and deked in tight to make it 3-2.

 

Special teams success continued for the Belarusians as Igor Martynov converted with the man advantage to extend the lead to 4-2 with 11:30 left, before Blichfeld responded just 34 seconds later.

 

Belarus captain Maxim Sushko, a fourth-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers who had two assists to give him a team-high six points (1+5) in five games, will help his teammates regroup for a must-win Game 2.

 

“We should have a meeting with the boys, no coaches,” Sushko said. “Maybe somebody wants to say something. We just have to play and win the next game.”

 

Without the services of defenseman Christian Mathiasen-Weise, who was suspended one game for a high hit late in their loss to Slovakia, Denmark will get their captain back for the rematch.

 

The game plan will be similar, but with an added attention to the power play and penalty kill.

 

“Pretty much the same as today, we’ve just got to be a bit better on special teams,” Krog said. ”Prepare ourselves for the game and come out flying.”

 

While the winner of the relegation stage earns an automatic berth in the 2019 World Juniors, the relegated club will compete in the WJC’s second-tier Division I A tournament.

 

Game 2 is set for Thursday at noon at KeyBank Center ahead of the two medal round semifinal matchups while Game 3 (if necessary) would take place on Friday at noon on the same ice.