Canada finishes first in Group A

By
Daily Herald
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Photo Courtesy of Hockey Canada Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Dylan Cozens smiles after opening the scoring for Canada on Thursday evening against Finland.

Schneider records assist in win over Finland

Canada will head into the medal round at the 2021 World Juniors as the only team without a loss thus far in Edmonton.

The tournament hosts finished first in Group A with a 4-0 record following a convincing 4-1 triumph over Finland on New Year’s Eve at Rogers Place.

Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge Hurricanes) opened and closed the scoring for Canada, who outshot Finland by a 40-19 margin.

Dylan Holloway (Wisconsin Badgers) and Peyton Krebs (Winnipeg Ice) also found the back of the net, while Prince Albert product and Brandon Wheat Kings blueliner Braden Schneider picked up an assist on Holloway’s goal for his first point of the event.

Defenceman Kaiden Guhle of the Prince Albert Raiders, who has scored two goals this week, was held without a point on Thursday.

Devon Levi (Carleton Place Canadians) made 18 saves during the contest, with his only blemish coming on a third period power play snipe by Saskatoon Blades import draft pick Brad Lambert, who’s considered to be one of the top prospects for the 2022 NHL Draft along with Shane Wright and Matthew Savoie.

Windsor Spitfires netminder Kari Piiroinen turned aside 36 shots for Finland, who finished in second place in Group A with a 3-1 mark.

The only negative for Canada was the loss of Boston College Eagles forward Alex Newhook, who took a hard shoulder-to-shoulder hit from Finnish blueliner Eemil Viro early in the game and did not return after attempting a shift in the second period.

An update on his status was not immediately available after the contest.

Canada will look to keep up their winning ways on Saturday at 7 p.m. as they’ll face the Czech Republic in the quarter-final round.

Standings

Group A

  1. Canada – 12 points
  2. Finland – 9 points
  3. Germany – 5 points
  4. Slovakia – 4 points
  5. Switzerland – 0 points

Group B

  1. United States – 9 points
  2. Russia – 8 points
  3. Sweden – 7 points
  4. Czech Republic – 6 points
  5. Austria – 0 points

Round-Robin Scores

Wednesday, Dec. 30

  • Finland 6 Slovakia 0 (Anton Lundell (HIFK – Florida Panthers Draft Pick) – One Goal and Two Assists)
  • Germany 5 Switzerland 4 (John-Jason Peterka (EHC Munchen – Buffalo Sabres Draft Pick) – Three Goals and Two Assists – Tim Stutzle (Adler Mannheim – Ottawa Senators Prospect) – Two Goals and Three Assists)
  • Russia 4 Sweden 3 (Marat Khusnutdinov (SKA St. Petersburg – Minnesota Wild Draft Pick) Overtime Winner – Rodion Amirov (Salavat Yulaev Ufa – Toronto Maple Leafs Draft Pick) – One Goal and Two Assists)

Thursday, Dec. 31

  • Czech Republic 7 Austria 0 (Martin Lang (Moose Jaw Warriors) – Two Goals and One Assist)
  • Canada 4 Finland 1 (Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge Hurricanes – Buffalo Sabres Prospect) – Two Goals)
  • United States 4 Sweden 0 (Trevor Zegras (Boston Terriers – Anaheim Ducks Prospect) – One Goal and Two Assists – Spencer Knight (Boston College Eagles – Florida Panthers Draft Pick) – 27 Saves)

Playoff Schedule

Saturday, Jan. 2

  • 11 a.m. – Russia vs. Germany
  • 2:30 p.m. – Finland vs. Sweden
  • 6 p.m. – Canada vs. Czech Republic
  • 9:30 p.m. – United States vs. Slovakia

Monday, Jan. 4

  • 5 p.m. – Semifinal 1
  • 8:30 p.m. – Semifinal 2

Tuesday, Jan. 5

  • 4:30 p.m. – Bronze Medal Game
  • 8:30 p.m. – Gold Medal Game
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