Canada starts strong

BUFFALO, N.Y. Boris Katchouk broke up a pass between two Finnish defenders and took off on a breakaway down the ice. Putting a backhand past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, he then barrelled into Finland’s goaltender, following the puck into the net.

It was a quintessential Katchouk play, doing as much damage to the psyche of the Finnish bench as it did on the scoreboard as Canada went on to a 4-2 win Tuesday to open the world junior hockey championship.

“It is,” said Katchouk when asked if the goal within the first six minutes of play was typical for him. “It’s a game that I try to work on. Hunting pucks is a huge part of my game and once you’re hunting pucks and retrieving on the offence good things are going to happen.”

As soon as Katchouk sprang to his feet he pumped his arms and shouted as he was mobbed by teammates in the corner. Finnish head coach Jussi Ahokas immediately called for a challenge on the play on the grounds that the puck hadn’t crossed the goal-line when Katchouk fell into the net. Officials ruled it a good goal.

Katchouk acknowledged that his emphatic celebration probably influenced the referee, making it harder for off-ice officials to overturn the call.

“He called a goal on the ice and it’s definitely hard to overturn that,” said Katchouk. “The puck was in motion and it was going into the net so, good things happened.”

Finland seemed rattled by the call standing, allowing Sam Steel to add a goal 27 seconds later with Finnish captain Juuso Valimaki in the penalty box for slashing. Steel jumped on a rebound off Luukkonen’s pad and snapped it over the goalie’s outstretched glove for a 2-0 Canada lead.

Katchouk’s linemate Taylor Raddysh also scored and added an assist for Canada, while Drake Batherson had the eventual winner. Goaltender Carter Hart made 29 saves for the win.

“To be starting the tournament with a win, against a good team, is positive and we’re happy about that,” said head coach Dominique Ducharme. “At the same time, we know we can better.

“But it’s the first game of the tournament, I thought our guys were a little bit nervous and excited all day. That takes a lot of energy.”

Aleksi Heponiemi and Henri Jokiharju replied for Finland, while Luukkonen stopped 28 shots.