Day 2 of the 2018 World Junior Championship featured a tournament favourite taking care of business and a player who’s not even draft eligible until 2019 strutting his stuff.
Here’s an assortment of thoughts and observations from Wednesday’s WJC action.
CANADA 6, SLOVAKIA 0
• So far, Canada’s 19-year-old first-timers are lighting the lamp. While Vancouver Canucks second-rounder Jonah Gadjovich was named Canada’s player of the game for his two-goal effort, the early chemistry being shown by Sam Steel and Jordan Kyrou is what should have fans of the red and white most excited.
Steel experienced the agony of being cut from the world junior team last year, but he’s quickly put that painful memory to rest. The Anaheim Ducks first-rounder (30th overall in 2016) now has goals in back-to-back games after opening the scoring 3:39 into the first period against Slovakia. Impressive as Steel has been, however, the world is really starting to learn about the all-world skill of his linemate, Kyrou.
The Sarnia Sting whiz and St. Louis Blues pick made a nice pass to the point to get the ball rolling on Steel’s goal, but his best work of the night came when he made an early entry for goal of the tournament with a filthy undressing of defenceman Erik Smolka on a second-period power play. His last bit of offensive wizardry came when Kyrou slid a beautiful pass to Taylor Raddysh at the side of the goal that was converted into another power-play marker for the Canadians as they pulled away in the middle frame.
On a club expecting to get goals by committee, Kyrou and Steel are quickly emerging as lead horses.
• Team Canada’s blue line depth has been put to the test early and the rearguards have passed with flying colours. After receiving word that Kale Clague would miss the game after blocking a shot with his foot in the tournament-opening win over Finland, Canada promoted Cale Makar — who saw limited ice time against Finland — into a more prime role. Then, early on versus Slovakia, D-man Jake Bean collided with Marian Studenic and crashed hard into the end boards behind his own net.
While Bean did return, he played under three minutes in the second period, as the other five defencemen shouldered most of the load. In the third period, Dante Fabbro — who’s been nursing a lower-body injury — saw very little action. Through it all, the Canadians surrendered just 20 shots, all of which were turned aside by Colton Point, who spelled No. 1 stopper Carter Hart for the night.
• If there was one thing the Canadians likely wanted to change coming out of their win over Finland it was the amount of penalties they took. Consider that done. After being whistled for six minor infractions against the Finns, Canada played much cleaner against Slovakia, taking just two penalties in the contest. Sure, the competition wasn’t as stiff, but the discipline was still a positive development.
SWITZERLAND 3, BELARUS 2
• Valentin Nussbaumer is a hyped prospect for the 2019 NHL Draft and if there’s one thing we learned about the Swiss centre in his team’s win over Belarus, it’s that ‘The Baumer’ doesn’t need much of an opening to strike.
For two periods, the 17-year-old did little to stand out. But with less than 12 minutes to play in the third and his team trailing 2-1, Nussbaumer drifted toward the slot and was standing in just the right place — happy coincidence or great instincts? — to coral a loose puck that kicked out from the boards following a Belarusian turnover. Where some players may have fired the moment rubber touched their tape, Nussbaumer hesitated for a moment, shuffled forehand-backhand-forehand and ripped a shot past goalie Andrei Grishenko on the blocker side. All poise and skill from the youngster.
• Nussbaumer’s tally helped him earn player-of-the-game honours for the Swiss, but it could be argued Belarus’s Maxim Sushko actually did more to gain the same distinction for his side in a losing cause. Drafted in the fourth round (107th overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers last June, Sushko netted a goal and an assist anchoring his team’s top line between Yegor Sharangovich and Viktor Bovbel.
Sushko was persistent on his first-period goal, banging away until he put a loose puck past Swiss goalie Philip Wuthrich. His most impressive piece of work, however, came on the third-period marker that gave Belarus a third-period lead. Manning the point on the power play, Sushko shook Swiss defender Nico Gross with a fake shot, then fired on goal. The puck actually hit teammate Ilya Litvinov and dropped right in front of Bovbel, who swatted it home. Beyond its first line, Belarus really had trouble generating any kind of threatening attack.
• This loss may have been an early death knell for Belarus, which is surely dreading the prospect of regulation after opening the tournament with a 6-1 loss to Sweden. With games coming against Russia and the Czech Republic, the Belarusians now face an uphill battle to avoid the basement in Group B.
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