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The 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship will resume with the quarterfinals on Tuesday. The semi-finals will be held on Thursday, and the championship and third place games will be held on Friday.
On tap for the quarterfinals
All games will be broadcast on NHL Network in the US and TSN in Canada
Slovakia vs. Finland (6 a.m. ET): Slovakia has not won a medal at the world juniors since taking bronze in 2015, and will soon have to put Sunday’s 10-2 loss to the United States in the rearview mirror. The story might have been different if Slovakia coach Ivan Fenes had not chosen to rest goaltender Adam Gajan (Chicago Blackhawks) on Sunday to prepare for the medal round. Gajan was named the 2023 WJC Goalie of the Year and has a .934 save percentage and one shutout in three games this year. He also has support offensively, with Selvak Petrovsky (Minnesota Wild) leading the league in points with nine points (five goals, four assists). Slovakia also boasts the tournament’s top power play (43.7 percent, 7-for-16) and ranks third among 10 teams in penalty kill (88.2 percent).
Finland won 5-4 in a shootout against Sweden on Sunday, and although they didn’t have their best game, goaltender Noah Valli (2024 Draft Eligible) was strong (.929 save percentage in two games). , there was a chance of winning a medal. Starting job with Niklas Kokko (Carolina Hurricanes). Kasper Haltunen (San Jose Sharks) is Finland’s biggest offensive threat with his six points (3 goals, 3 assists), but Finland needs his help moving forward.
Canada vs. Czech Republic (8:30 a.m. ET): Canada is led by the WJC’s youngest player for the second year in a row. After Connor Bedard’s impressive performance in the 2023 WJC, now comes Maclin Celebrini, a 17-year-old projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, including two goals in one game. He has a team-high 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists). They won 6-3 against Germany on Sunday. One was a sharp-angled shot that was the highlight of the third period after winning a puck race with goaltender Matthias Bittner. ). “He’s very good and loves hockey,” said Canadian forward Matthew Poitras (Boston Bruins). “I noticed he’s always the last one off the ice and he loves to hone his craft. He’s a special player.” But Canada will need more than Celebrini. Owen Beck (Montreal Canadiens), the only returning player from the 2023 WJC, scored his first goal on Sunday and Jordan was the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s leading scorer when he departed for the World Juniors. -Dumais (Columbus Blue Jackets) was the same way. . Poitras, who has been playing in the NHL all season, had three points (two goals, one assist). Additional energy could be provided by Jaguar Farkas (Seattle Kraken) being added to the roster on Saturday and making his tournament debut on Tuesday.
The Czech Republic will be aiming for revenge after losing to Canada 3-2 in overtime in last year’s gold medal match. Jiri Klich (Buffalo Sabers), who tied for second place last year with seven goals, led the Czech Republic with four goals in qualifying. Goaltender Michael Frabal (Arizona Coyotes), who played the entire first four games, has an .888 save percentage and accounts for most of the goals at 6-foot-6, 209 pounds.
U.S. vs. Latvia (11 a.m. ET): The United States won the four preliminary round games by a combined score of 29-9 and will enter the medal round as the No. 1 overall seed. Gavin Brindley (Columbus Blue Jackets) was the biggest contributor on offense with a tournament-high six goals, matching the line with Isaac Howard (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Frank Nazar (Chicago Blackhawks). and 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists). ). Scoring depth may be the United States’ greatest strength. Jimmy Snageld (St. Louis Blues), who tied for the team lead with four goals in Sunday’s game against Slovakia, was absent due to illness, Rutger McGroarty (Winnipeg Jets) had a hat trick, and Cutter Gauthier (Philadelphia)・Flyers) were there. ) had one goal and two assists in the 10-2 victory. “Especially not having Jimmy in the lineup is huge for our players,” U.S. coach David Karl said. “It was huge to be here today and score 10 points without him, and we definitely need to score from our entire lineup so we can win in single-elimination tournaments.”
Latvia scored six goals and advanced to the medal round despite having a minus-16 goal difference. Sandis Vilmanis (Florida Panthers) scored 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) in the preliminary round and took the lead.
Sweden vs. Switzerland (1:30 p.m. ET): Sweden looked like a solid team with shutout wins in their first three games, but they dominated Finland in the second and third periods in Sunday’s 5-4 penalty shootout loss. Filip Bystedt (San Jose Sharks), who is tied for the team lead in goals with three, is one of eight returning players from last year’s team, which lost to the United States in the bronze medal game and finished in fourth place. “I still have points left,” he said. It’s a feeling of anger at the way things ended. “We are a team that wants to win, but losing in the semifinals last year was tough,” he said. “This year, we couldn’t be more hungry to get through this and play in the finals.”
Switzerland’s only WJC medal was bronze in 1998, when they defeated Sweden 2-1 in the quarterfinals. It will be difficult to match that feat this year, as he scored 11 goals in four qualifying round games. Jonas Teiber (2024 Draft Eligible Player) leads Switzerland with five points (one goal, four assists), but no player has scored more than two goals.
quick links
World Junior Championship predictions
Group A preview
Group B preview
World Junior Championship Roster
Tournament schedule
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