The junior crowns suffered their first loss in this year’s JVM on New Year’s Eve, Swedish time. Host nation Canada – and phenom Connor Bedard – were simply too big and defeated Sweden a sensational 5-1, thanks in large part to a frenetic start.
The defeat leaves the Junior Crowns in third place in Group A, behind group winners the Czech Republic and second place Canada. Third place pits Sweden against a classic rival in the quarter-finals; Finland.
The match between Finland and Sweden takes place on Monday, starting at 17:00 Swedish time.
Canada came out on skates full of rocket fuel and jumped out to a 2-0 lead before half of the Swedish team’s players had even made their first changes. Joshua Roy made it 1-0 after 57 seconds and already one minute later, with 02:08 on the clock, Brennan Othmann made it 2-0. Tyson Hinds made it 3-0 after 11:45 and Sweden got away with nothing but a scare and a goal stop! – thanks to Ludvig Jansson’s 3-1 reduction after 16:21.
Södertälje SK’s HockeyAllsvenskan starter Jansson scored his third goal of the tournament and the defender currently leads the domestic scoring chart for the Junior crowns with his six points (3+3) in four games.
Then comes Filip Bystedt (five points, 2+3), who scored an assist on Jansson’s goal.
– We try to play well every game, but this was much tougher opposition than our previous games, Bystedt told IIHF.com. You either win or you learn and tonight’s game was definitely a lesson learned. But now let’s move on.
– We knew that we would play in Canada, in their home, and that their fans would carry them along. But we have to focus on ourselves and our game. We need to move the puck faster out of our zone. We often got stuck and gave them chances that they could then score on.
There were no more goals for the Junior crowns after the 3-1 reduction and Canada managed to go 5-1 in the third period on goals from Othmann and Kevin Korchinski.
Prodigy Connor Bedard then?
Well, he recorded assists on four of Canada’s five goals, climbing to 18 points (6+12) in four games – a haul that ties him with a trio of Canadian records; most points in a single JVM by a player under 18 (18), most assists in a single JVM (12), and most total points in a JVM contest (31).
Bedard himself mostly wanted to talk about the start of the team and team goalkeeper Thomas Milic.
“This is exactly how we want to play it,” Bedard told IIHF.com of Canada’s first period. That period was dominant on our side and that’s how we will try to play the next three games. If we succeed, we will be difficult to deal with.
– But (Milic) was our MVP tonight, he was incredible. At the same time, we expect that from him because we know how good he is. Tonight was incredible and he gave us the energy we needed.
Milic stopped 22 of the 23 shots that came his way on the night. Olof Lindbom saved 39 of the 44 shots he faced in the Swedish penalty area.
Canada faces Slovakia in the quarterfinals. That match starts at 00:30 Tuesday night Swedish time.
OTHER RESULTS:
Switzerland-Slovakia 4-3 (on penalties)
Not much was said about Switzerland after Slovakia took a 3-1 lead after two periods thanks to two goals from Servac Petrovsky and one from Adam Sykora. But the Alpine nation rallied again and equalized in the third period, after which scoreless extra time and ten penalty shots followed. In the end, the heroes for Switzerland were goalkeeper Kevin Pasche, who saved Dalibor Dvorsky’s penalty, as well as Rodwin Dionicio, who made the decision.
Czech Republic-Germany 8-1
The Czech Republic left nothing to chance as they claimed victory in Group A. Jakub Brabenec (0+3), Gabriel Szturc (1+2) and Martin Rysavy (1+2) each scored three points in this defeat which saw The Czech Republic faces Switzerland in the quarterfinals.
USA-Finland 6-2
Finland keeps pace with the USA throughout the first half (1-1), but in the second half the American machine revs up and takes the lead 4-2. Finland had nothing to oppose in the third period and the final balance was 6-2. The top scorer of the American team was Jimmy Snuggerud (1+3), followed by Logan Cooley (1+2).
