World Juniors Day 2 Recap: Team Canada coasts to tournament-opening win over Team Latvia

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
World Juniors Day 2 Recap: Team Canada coasts to tournament-opening win over Team Latvia

Ottawa Senators prospect Ridly Greig single-handedly lifted Team Canada to a 5–2 victory over Team Latvia on Wednesday at the 2022 IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship.

Did Greig score all five of Canada’s goals in the game? Well, no. Did he take a ton of shots? Not really. Did he log a ton of minutes? Again, not quite.

But he absolutely did score with one hand.

Seriously, get a load of that goal. When Senators general manager Pierre Dorion selected Greig with the No. 28 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, even he likely didn’t expect the 6’0″, 172-pound center to pull off a move like that in a best-on-best international tournament.

Greig’s goal stood as the insurance marker in a relatively straightforward win for Team Canada. Projected 2023 No. 1 pick Connor Bedard (pictured above) opened the scoring midway through the first period with a laser beam of a shot, and the Canadians never looked back from there.

Lukas Cormier, Olen Zellweger, and William Dufour also scored for Team Canada in the win. Rainers Darzins and Bogdans Hodass returned the favour for Team Latvia.

Team Canada outshot Team Latvia 44–24 on Wednesday, with Canadian goaltender Sebastian Cossa making 22 stops in the win. Thursday’s Canada–Slovakia game could be a little bit more competitive.

Hand him a Blank check

Also on Wednesday, Team Germany successfully rebounded from its tournament-opening loss to Team USA with a 4–2 victory over Team Austria.

The Austrians actually held a 2–1 lead early in the second period before German forward Alexander Blank singlehandedly took over the game — for real, this time.

Blank, who is not currently affiliated with an NHL team, scored a natural hat trick in seven minutes and 26 seconds during the second period against Team Austria on Wednesday. He fired a game-high eight shots on goal and also recorded an assist on his team’s first goal of the game.

Thus far, Blank has figured in on all five goals scored by Team Germany at the 2022 World Juniors (he netted the Germans’ only tally in their 5–1 loss to Team USA on Tuesday).

It remains to be seen whether that trend continues on Saturday when Team Germany takes on Team Switzerland.

Rosén rises to the occasion

Few onlookers expected Wednesday’s Team Sweden vs. Team Switzerland contest to be as close as it ended up.

When the final buzzer sounded at Rogers Place, the Swedes enjoyed a narrow 3–2 advantage over the Swiss on the scoreboard and led 29–23 on the shot counter.

The Swedish side at this year’s World Juniors is absolutely loaded with top NHL prospects, including Simon Edvinsson, Isak Rosén, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and Jesper Wallstedt.

Team Switzerland has exactly two NHL-affiliated players: Simon Knak (Nashville Predators) and Brian Zanetti (Philadelphia Flyers). And yet … they were able to hold the Swedes to just three goals.

Rosén, the Buffalo Sabres’ second of two 2021 first-round picks, scored the eventual game-winner against Team Switzerland on Wednesday.

Even after Rosén made it 3–0 early in the third period, Team Switzerland showed impressive fortitude in battling back to cut the lead to just one by the midway mark of the frame.

Unfortunately, the Swiss were unable to find the equalizer. But it was a good start for a team that has historically seldom been a favorite at this tournament.

Team Switzerland will have another chance to prove its worth on Thursday against a formidable foe: Team USA.

Day 2 Results

Team Sweden 3, Team Switzerland 2

Team Latvia 2, Team Canada 5

Team Germany 4, Team Austria 2

Day 3 Schedule

Team Finland vs. Team Czechia — 12:00 p.m. MT/2:00 p.m. ET

Team Slovakia vs. Team Canada — 4:00 p.m. MT/6:00 p.m. ET

Team Switzerland vs. Team USA — 8:00 p.m. MT/10:00 p.m. ET

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