Swiss shoot down Danes

Switzerland rallied from deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 to beat Denmark 5-4 in a shootout. This means Finland must play relegation and will not repeat as champions.

Finland has achieved an unfortunate first. It is the first time in IIHF history that a nation has won World Junior gold one year and played in the relegation round the next year.

Swiss forward Marco Miranda scored the only goal in the shootout. Switzerland outshot Denmark 53-22 and showed a never-say-die attitude. Danish goalie Kasper Krog was heroic in defeat.

"It was a pretty wild one," said Krog, who got an ovation from the Montreal crowd at the end of overtime. "We didn’t really stick to the game plan and we allowed them to get some offense that they maybe shouldn’t have had, because they have a good team. They know how to score."

In regulation, Yannick Zehnder scored twice for Switzerland, and Nico Hischier and Nando Eggenberger added singles for Switzerland. Jonas Siegenthaler had two helpers.

"The first period was [garbage]," said Siegenthaler. "The second period, we started good and scored some goals and came back into the game. We just needed to shoot the puck and go for rebounds. At the end it was 4-4, and we had some good chances in the overtime. Their goalie was good and they played good defence and everything. At the end we won in the shootout."

Regardless, the Danes have made the final eight for the third straight year. They’ve proved that taking them lightly is a mistake. Just ask Finland and the Czech Republic: here in Montreal, Denmark has defeated both of them for the first time in World Junior history.

"We’ve played up against a lot of good teams in the round-robin," said Danish captain Alexander True. "I for sure think we can be proud of ourselves. Every night we came out and competed with the other team."

But there's still some maturing for Denmark to do. The ability to clamp down on a big lead is an important key to success, and they blew leads of 3-0 and 4-1 versus Switzerland.

True and Mathias From tallied a goal and an assist apiece. Joachim Blichfeld and Niklas Andersen added singles. Oliver Gatz had two assists.

Switzerland has one more round-robin game against Finland on New Year's Eve and will aim to edge out Denmark for second place in Group A.

"We don’t have to score beautiful goals or whatever," said Siegenthaler. "We want to win and be second in the group. We’ll see next game."

The Danes drew first blood just 20 seconds in. Gatz’s point shot hit a leg in front and the puck bounced to True, who beat Swiss starter Joren van Pottelberghe high to the glove side.

At 3:45, Denmark went up 2-0. Again, Gatz shot from the point and Blichfeld, standing in front, deflected in his third goal of the tournament.

Denmark’s Morten Jensen was assessed a two-minute minor and 10-minute misconduct for a hit to the head of Siegenthaler. However, the Swiss didn’t test Krog, apart from a stiff Damien Riat one-timer from the left faceoff circle.

On Denmark’s first power play, Andersen gave Denmark a 3-0 lead at 13:40 with his one-timer set up by Mathias From.

Hischier gave the Swiss life with 2:04 left in the first, getting loose in front to bang in the rebound from Riat’s point shot past Krog. It was his second goal of these World Juniors.

Denmark stalled Switzerland's momentum with yet another early-period goal. At 0:28 of the second, From made it 4-1, executing a fabulous curl-and-drag move and firing high on the rush. It was the second goal in as many games for the 19-year-old Chicago Blackhawks prospect. He got the 3-2 overtime winner versus the Czechs after missing the first two games due to injury.

The Swiss refused to cave. At 6:29, Zehnder cut the Danish lead to 4-2, scoring with a backhand deke on a breakaway. Defenceman Nico Gross, one of just two 2000-born players in this tournament along with Sweden's Rasmus Dahlin, earned his first World Junior point with an assist.

Less than six minutes later, Eggenberger cut the Danish lead to one, popping a rebound over Krog to cap off a rush.

"I think we get a little high sometimes, and then when they got a couple of goals on us, we got a little low," said True. "So we gotta keep our emotions in check."

In the third period, Switzerland made it 4-4, as an onrushing, unchecked Zehnder slammed home his own rebound from the slot at 3:35.

At 7:35, the Swiss thought Damien Riat might have given them their first lead of the game during a goalmouth scrum. However, the play was video-reviewed and it was inconclusive whether the puck had crossed the line. Swiss coach Christian Wohlwend gave his team an animated lecture during the lengthy review.

"He just said it doesn’t matter what’s going to happen – just play the same way," said Siegenthaler.

Overtime solved nothing, although the Swiss dominated the play and defenceman Serge Weber nearly won it in the final minute.

"I think it’s good that we won this game," said Hischier. "If we’d lost this game in the shootout, it would have been hard after such a loss to play against Finland."

Swiss captain Calvin Thurkauf did not play against Denmark. He was serving a one-game suspension for a slew-foot on Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin. In Thurkauf’s absence, Riat wore the “C” for Switzerland. Thurkauf is eligible to return for the quarter-finals.

Sweden hammers Danes

The opening game of the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship was a smashing success for Sweden, which beat Denmark 6-1 at Montreal's Bell Centre on Boxing Day.

Alexander Nylander led the way with two goals for Sweden. Carl Grundstrom, Rasmus Dahlin, and Joel Eriksson Ek chipped in a goal and an assist apiece, and Jonathan Dahlen added a single. Goalie Felix Sandstrom earned the win as shots favored Sweden 33-22.

"We’re here to win," Nylander said. "That’s our goal, to go to the final and come home with a medal – gold, hopefully. It’s good to get the first win and get our confidence up."

Sweden is seeking its first medal since settling for silver on home ice in Malmo in 2014. The Juniorkronorna have won World Junior gold twice all-time (1981, 2012).

It was an auspicious debut for Tomas Monten as Sweden's head coach. The 39-year-old served as an assistant in 2014 and 2015.

Nikolaj Krag got the only Danish goal. The Danes, who finished eighth at the last two World Juniors, continued their history of futility against Sweden in World Junior play. They lost 10-1 on 28 December, 2007; 5-1 on 27 December, 2014; and 5-0 on 30 December, 2015.

"That’s a tough team we played against today," said Danish captain Alexander True. "They’re a good team, and we weren’t sharp enough in the D zone. They took advantage of that."

Life doesn't get any easier for Denmark, which faces defending champion Finland on Tuesday.

"This year, they don’t have the [same kind of] young stars as last year," Denmark's Christian Wieritz said. "They’ve got a really good team, but there are chances. We’re taking it game by game."

Halfway through the first period, Nylander opened the scoring, stickhandling into the slot and sliding a wrister past Danish goalie Lasse Petersen. The nifty 18-year-old, the son of retired NHL star Michael Nylander and brother of Toronto Maple Leafs rookie William Nylander, led Sweden last year with nine points.

It was 2-0 at 18:24, as Eriksson Ek, the Swedish captain, converted the rebound from Rasmus Dahlin’s shot. Dahlin, a 16-year-old defenceman from Frolunda Gothenburg, is touted as a prospective #1 overall pick for the 2018 NHL Draft. His World Junior debut will add to the buzz.

"I just did my best," said Dahlin. "I had luck."

In the second period, Dahlen, another World Junior rookie, scored Sweden’s third goal, going to the net to finish off a sweet Grundstrom pass on the rush. Dahlen is the son of longtime NHLer Ulf Dahlen, who led the 1987 World Juniors in scoring and won World Championship gold in 1998.

After Danish rearguard Oliver Larsen turned the puck over at the Swedish blue line, Grundstrom got a shorthanded breakaway. Petersen had stopped him on another breakaway early in the first, but this time, the Swedish assistant captain went high glove side for a four-goal lead at 6:26.

When Denmark pressed, Sandstrom was there to shut the door. He got his right toe on a dangerous Christian Mathiasen-Wejse wraparound attempt.

"Lasse, our goalie, had a couple of great saves," said Danish coach Olaf Eller. "But Sandstrom, at the other end, had more than a couple of great saves. Then as the goals were coming, we fell out of the game. It was disappointing in the middle of the second period."

Dahlin made it 5-0 at 13:12, stickhandling deftly inside the blue line before fluttering a high shot past Petersen. Nylander put Sweden up 6-0 at 18:22. Standing in front, he coolly tipped in David Bernhardt's feed from the point.

Nothing could be said in either dressing room during the second intermission that would change the final outcome, although Krag spoiled Sandstrom's shutout bid on a short-side wrister with just over two minutes left. Sweden gets a day off before facing Switzerland on Wednesday.

Asked what Sweden can do to improve against the Swiss, Nylander said: "Maybe play a little simpler, support each other better, and get more shots on net. We played good, but I think we can still do better."

The Swedes dressed an experienced lineup, with seven returnees from the 2016 tournament. Denmark had six returnees. Danish winger Mathias From, a 2016 fifth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, missed the opener. He is still recovering from an injury suffered at practice on 15 December, but is expected to play later on.

Eller is coaching Denmark for the third straight year at the World Juniors. He is the father of former Montreal Canadiens forward Lars Eller, who now plays for the Washington Capitals.

Canada is hosting the World Juniors every second year through 2021. Montreal and Toronto also co-hosted in 2015, and Vancouver and Victoria will co-host in 2019. Hockey Canada has yet to allocate the sites for 2021.

via World Juniors.

Recaps of today's World Junior Championship games

FINLAND 6, CANADA 5
Defending champion Canada lost to Finland 6-5 in the quarterfinals of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki on Saturday.

Right wing Patrik Laine, a 2016 NHL Draft eligible prospect, scored twice for Finland, including the game-winner on the power play with 5:50 remaining.

Antti Kalapudas, Aleksi Saarela (New York Rangers), Julius Nattinen (Anaheim Ducks) and Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes) had goals for Finland, which plays Sweden in one semifinal on Monday.

Finland's Jesse Puljujarvi, also a top prospect for the 2016 draft, had three assists and leads the tournament with 15 points.

USA 7, CZECH REPUBLIC 0

Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, had a hat trick to lead the United States into the semifinals against Russia on Monday.

Alex Nedeljkovic (Carolina Hurricanes) made 28 saves to earn his first shutout of the tournament.

Matthews scored his first two goals 4:53 apart in the second period and completed his hat trick 24 seconds into the third period. He leads all scorers with seven goals.

Nick Schmaltz (Chicago Blackhawks), Christian Dvorak (Arizona Coyotes), Scott Eansor and Alex DeBrincat also scored for the United States, which has outscored its opponents 25-5 in winning four of its five games.

RUSSIA 4, DENMARK 3 (OT):

Vladislav Kamenev scored his second goal of the game at 5:00 of overtime to move unbeaten Russia into the semifinals.

Kamenev (Nashville Predators) had forced the overtime by scoring with 44 seconds remaining in the third period.

Yegor Korshkov and Artur Lauta each had a goal and an assist for Russia, which outshot Denmark 46-21.

Russia lost 5-4 to Canada in last year's final and is trying to win the gold medal for the first time since 2011.

SWEDEN 6, SLOVAKIA 0:

Linus Soderstrom (New York Islanders) made 17 saves for his second shutout of the tournament, moving unbeaten Sweden into the semifinals.

Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings), Jens Looke (Coyotes), Axel Holmstrom (Detroit Red Wings), Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson (Boston Bruins), Alexander Nylander and Christoffer Ehn (Red Wings) scored for Sweden, which put the game away with three third-period goals.

"Feels good to be through to the semifinals," Holmstrom told the IIHF website. "I thought we played a really solid game."

Slovakia goalie Adam Huska stopped 49 shots.

SWITZERLAND 5, BELARUS 1:

Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks) and Denis Malgin (Florida Panthers) had a goal and two assists each for Switzerland in the first relegation-round game.

Noah Rod (Sharks), Damien Riat and Julien Privet also scored for Switzerland, which outshot Belarus 41-21.

Recaps of today's WJC games

United States 10, Switzerland 1: Auston Matthews, the likely top pick of the 2016 NHL Draft, had two goals and two assists to lead the United States to a 10-1 victory against Switzerland in a Group A preliminary-round game at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Helsinki Ice Hall in Helsinki, Finland.

Fellow top draft prospect Matthew Tkachuk and Christian Dvorak (Arizona Coyotes), Zachary Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Colin White (Ottawa Senators) had three-point games. The win moved the U.S. into second place in Group A with six points, three behind first-place Sweden.

Nick Schmaltz (Chicago Blackhawks), Ryan Donato (Boston Bruins) and Brandon Carlo (Boston Bruins) also scored for the U.S.

Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks) scored for Switzerland, which finished fifth in Group A with one point. Switzerland will play Belarus in the relegation round.
The U.S. finishes preliminary-round play Thursday against Denmark (9 a.m. ET; NHLN).

Finland 8, Slovakia 3: Tournament scoring leader Jesse Puljujarvi, an A-rated skater by NHL Central Scouting in its November players to watch list for the 2016 draft, had a four-point game to lead Finland in a Group B game at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki.

Puljujarvi, who has 10 points in three games, had one goal and three assists.

Finland took a 3-2 lead into the third period before breaking out with five goals to put the game away.

The host country is third in Group B with six points. Finland plays Czech Republic on Thursday to finish the preliminary round.

Sweden 5, Denmark 0: Oskar Lindblom (Philadelphia Flyers) had one goal and one assist and goaltender Felix Sandstrom (Philadelphia Flyers) made nine saves for the shutout for Sweden in a Group A game.

Sweden won its third straight game and clinched first place in Group A with nine points.

Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings) opened the scoring 13 seconds into the game at Helsinki Ice Hall. Gustav Forsling (Chicago Blackhawks) gave Sweden a 2-0 lead with a power-play goal midway through the first period.

William Lagesson (Edmonton Oilers) and top 2016 NHL Draft prospect Alexander Nylander also scored for Sweden.

Sweden finishes preliminary-round play Thursday against Canada (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Denmark finishes group play Thursday against the U.S. (9 a.m. ET; NHLN).

Czech Republic 5, Belarus 3: Simon Stransky, a top prospect for the 2016 draft, was one of five scorers in the victory for the Czech Republic in Group B play.

Vladislav Goncharov's power-play goal gave Belarus a 3-2 lead after two periods. But 2:06 into the third period Jiri Smejkal scored to tie the game, and 2:14 later a goal by Radek Vesely put the Czech Republic ahead for good. Defenseman Dominik Masin (Tampa Bay Lightning) closed the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final minute of the third.

Defenseman Stepan Falkovski, a C-rated player to watch for the 2016 draft, and Yegor Sharangovich also scored for Belarus.

The Czechs, with two wins and an overtime loss, are second in Group B with seven points. They play Finland to finish group play. Belarus will play Switzerland in the best-of-3 relegation round.