CANADA WINS AGAIN
World junior team 2-0
And now for something completely the same: Canada beats Slovakia.
OK, it was a lot closer than normal, with seventh defenceman Jordan Spence's goal four minutes into the game on one of his two shifts in the period, getting them on the board, then Philip Tomasino and Jack Quinn (empty net) scored for a 3-1 win.
This was the fourth time Canada has played the Slovaks on the second of back-to-back games to start their championship over the last 25 years, and but for Martin Chromiak's power-play goal on Devon Levi — with their goalie, Samuel Hlavaj, pulled for a six-on-four with 96 seconds left — they would have blanked them every game.
Slovakia played very well defensively.
In 2008, Steve Mason got the shutout with 22 saves. In 2017, Connor Ingram had to make all of six saves and Colton Point stopped all 20 in 2019. This time, Levi only saw 18 shots — four in the first, four in the second and a busier 10 in the third in his second start for Canada.
Tomasino squeezed one past Hlavaj with 3:55 to play for the eventual decisive goal as they won their 14th straight against Slovakia. Lifetime, they're 15-0-1, outscoring them 75-16, with the only tie a scoreless draw in Winnipeg in 1999. It's the only time Canada has ever had a 0-0 game.
So Canada, after clobbering Germany 16-2 on Boxing Day, is now 2-0.
Slovakia, who beat Switzerland 1-0, are now 1-1 with two total goals.
PAYING THE PIPER
Canadian defenceman Braden Schneider had a hearing with the IIHF Sunday morning and was handed a one-game suspension for his shoulder hit to the head of German Jan-luca Schumacher on Boxing Day, which coach André Tourigny shrugged off with the next-man-up mentality that all coaches espouse.
He played Kaedan Korczak with Thomas Harley — same setup as the German game after Schneider was ejected midway through the first period — and dressed Spence as a seventh D.
“Nothing we can do about it, you move on. You don't want hits to head obviously, but he didn't want to do harm to an opponent,” said Tourigny, who didn't feel the hit was as bad as it appeared.
“I didn't watch the clip 22 times but I thought it was a hockey play, the size between the two players is a big factor.”
DOUBLE THE TROUBLE
Edmonton Oilers 2020 first-round pick forward Dylan Holloway was scratched with an upper-body issue. He was hurt on the same Schneider sequence. The U of Wisconsin winger was spun around on a hit deep in the German end and then, following up the ice, hit the back of Schumacher with his head after the Schneider wallop.
With expanded rosters this tournament because of COVID-19, Canada
still had 12 forwards for the game, with Kirby Dach ( broken wrist) also on the shelf.
AUDITIONING FOR CAPITALS
Canadian assistant captain Connor Mcmichael still has another year of junior eligibility with London Knights, but after the OHL said they weren't starting Feb. 4 and first faceoff was undetermined, Washington Capitals might keep the 19-yearold centre/winger after he gets to their camp when the world junior ends. He also has to go through COVID protocols before getting on the ice with the Caps so will miss several days, but they really like him and he could be a taxi-squadder.
“I don't know how much camp Connor will get in and we're not sure what the OHL is doing, if they're playing or not. That'll factor into our decision,” said Caps'
GM Brian Maclellan on a Zoom call just before Christmas.
“Maybe it's based on his performance at the world juniors. Did he take a big step forward? Where is he development-wise? We're going to talk about all those things. If it makes sense to have him on our taxi squad we're all for it.”
Mcmichael, who had 102 points in 52 games last year in the OHL, can't play in the AHL because he has one year left of junior eligibility, but if the OHL isn't up and running until late February or March, they may as well keep him on their six-man taxi squad.
RACKING UP THE POINTS
If you thought Canadian forward Dylan Cozens's six-point game against Germany was great stuff, you're right. It's the most since Gabriel Bourque had seven in a 16-0 drubbing of Latvia on Boxing Day 2009. But it's still a way from Peter Forsberg's alltime world junior single-game record 10 points against Japan in a 20-1 demolition on Dec. 30, 1992. Forsberg had 31 points in seven games (7-24) for the Swedes, of course, to lead the tournament point parade.
This 'n' that: As Canada alternates the C with Dach out, Cozens, who assisted on Tomasino's winner, wore it against Slovakia after Bowen Byram had it in the rout of Germany … Robert Petrovicky, the former Hartford Whalers first-round pick, coaches the Slovaks, and his boy Rayen plays defence for them.