RED DEER (Alberta) — Drew Commesso, Boston University’s goalie, made 23 saves. The defending champion United States won the world junior hockey championship on Sunday with a 3-2 win over Slovakia.
After two periods of 3-0, the Americans maintained their lead. Martin ChromiakSlovakia scored twice in the final period — with Slovakia scoring at 2:33.
Matthew Knies, Minnesota’s forward, opened scoring on a 2-man advantage with 6 minutes left in the first quarter. Michigan’s Mackie Samoskevich connected 1 minute later with a 1-man advantage. Landon Slaggert, Notre Dame’s forward, scored in the second.
The Americans will continue their Group B game Tuesday against Switzerland.
Simon Latkoczy saved 39 lives for Slovakia.
“Our guys worked together and fought through a difficult game,” said Nate Leaman, U.S. coach from Providence. It’s a positive first step for our team. We must continue to work hard and improve before we face Switzerland on Tuesday.
Edmonton’s No. Owen Power, Canada’s No. 1 draft pick had a hat-trick to help Canada beat the Czech Republic by 6-3. The afternoon saw Sweden defeat Russia 6-3 at Red Deer in Group B, while Finland defeated Germany 3-1 at Edmonton’s Group A.
Canada won 3-2 with Power scoring in the opening period. Canada scored two goals in 1:25 to win the second period on a power play by two men midway through the third period to make it 5-3.
Power stated, “I believe pucks just found me.” “Guys did an excellent job getting me good pucks at good shooting spots.”
The grabbed power Buffalo SabresWith the July draft’s top pick. The 6-foot-6 Michigan star is Canada’s first defenseman to score three goals in an event.
“There’s been an abundance of great players that have come to these tournaments. So I wasn’t aware that no one had ever gotten a triple hat trick. Power agreed. “It is quite special to be able to perform it on such a stage while wearing a Canadian shirt.”
Mason McTavishCanada’s Donovan Sebrango, Olen Zellweger and Cole Perfetti also scored. Dylan GarandMade 14 saves. He signed an entry level deal with the New York RangersLast week.
Stanislav Sozil, Pavel Novak and Michal Gut each scored consecutive goals to give Czech Republic an initial 3-1 advantage. Jakub malex stopped 30 shots.
To stop Russia’s comeback, Sweden’s Theodor Niederbach scored in the middle of the third period.
Niederbach defeated Jaroslav Askarov, to restore a two goal margin after Russia’s Matvei Mikkov scored twice in 41 seconds early in the third.
Oskar Olausson (Sweden), Emil Andrae and Simon Edvinson also scored for Sweden. Jesper Wallstedt saved 27 shots. Fyodor Skecjkov also scored in Russia, while Askarov stopped 13 shots.
Samuel Helenius scored twice during Finland’s win over Germany. Joel Maatta scored also, while Leevi Merilainen saved 23 shots. Nikita Qapp stopped 19 shots, while Luca Munzenberger scored Germany.
Sunday’s IIHF Council meeting stated that 10 of the top 10 teams from the top division will be returning for the 2023 event in Novosibirsk or Omsk (Russia). This month, Belarus was promoted to Division IA. The field now stands at 11.