World Juniors Day 3 Recap: Team Finland sneaks past Team Czechia in a shootout

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
World Juniors Day 3 Recap: Team Finland sneaks past Team Czechia in a shootout

Ottawa Senators prospect Roby Järventie scored once in regulation and once in the shootout on Thursday to help lift Team Finland to a 4–3 victory over Team Czechia.

Järventie hammered a one-timer past Czech goaltender Jan Bednar midway through the first period to get the Finns on the board on Day 3 of the 2022 IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship.

Team Czechia scored the first two goals of Thursday’s game, but the Finns roared back with the next three before Czech captain Jan Mysak tied the game with 7:22 remaining in regulation.

After a scoreless overtime, Team Finland controlled the shots by a 32–26 count through 65 minutes of play. All that set the stage for the first shootout of the 2022 World Juniors.

Järventie was the first to score for Team Finland, but Mysak answered back in the fourth round. Kasper Simontaival restored the one-goal lead in the top of the fifth, setting the stage for Team Finland goaltender (and another Senators prospect) Leevi Meriläinen to potentially seal the victory.

We already mentioned Ridly Greig’s spectacular one-handed goal yesterday, and now Järventie and Meriläinen have dominated our coverage of Thursday’s Finland/Czechia game … which Senators prospect will steal the spotlight next?

Kasper Puutio and Aatu Räty also scored for Team Finland in the 4–3 shootout win over Team Czechia. The Finns will return to action on Sunday to face Team Slovakia.

Mason McTavish scores four

Team Canada typically dominates at the World Juniors, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive when one of their players scores four goals in a single game.

Mason McTavish did just that against Team Slovakia on Thursday, scoring four consecutive Team Canada goals — albeit with the Slovaks’ lone marker mixed in between his first and second tallies — en route to an 11–1 win.

The Anaheim Ducks originally selected McTavish with the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. The 6’0″, 213-pound center put his fantastic shot on display against Team Slovakia, most notably uncorking a ridiculous backhand shot past goaltender Tomas Bolo to make it 7–1.

McTavish became the seventh Team Canada player to score four goals in one World Junior game, joining Mario Lemieux, Simon Gagne, Brayden Schenn, Taylor Raddysh, Maxime Comtois, and Connor Bedard.

Bedard, Will Cuylle, Brennan Othmann, Olen Zellweger, Logan Stankoven, Joshua Roy, and Zack Ostapchuk (another Senators prospect!) also scored for Team Canada on Day 3.

The Canadians will look to remain undefeated on Saturday when they take on Team Czechia.

Carter Mazur solves Team Switzerland

Team Switzerland has historically not been the strongest side at the World Juniors. Even so, Wednesday’s tilt between the Swedes and Swiss ended with the Tre Kronor eking out a 3–2 victory.

For a while, Thursday’s USA/Switzerland game seemed to be heading in the same direction. After 20 minutes, the two sides remained deadlocked at 0–0. After 30, it was 1–1.

Team USA led 8–7 in the shots column after one period. Things remained tight early in the second … and then the Americans blew the doors off the rest of the way.

Detroit Red Wings prospect and Denver Pioneers star Carter Mazur earned Player of the Game honors after getting Team USA on the board and spearheading its rally in the second period.

Both of Mazur’s goals came within a few feet of the crease in the middle frame. The 2021 third-round pick scored to make it 1–0 and 3–1, and Team USA never looked back from there.

The Americans ultimately cruised to a 7–1 victory over Team Switzerland, and the shot counter looked pretty lopsided by the end of regulation (39–24).

Given how Team Switzerland has put up a good fight thus far against Teams Sweden and USA, Saturday’s matchup against Team Germany could be a legit opportunity to pick up a win.

As for Team USA … well, it would take a miracle for them to not defeat Team Austria on Saturday, but we shall see.

Day 3 Results

Team Finland 4, Team Czechia 3 (SO)

Team Slovakia 1, Team Canada 11

Team Switzerland 1, Team USA 7

Day 4 Schedule

Team Austria vs. Team Sweden — 12:00 p.m. MT/2:00 p.m. ET

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

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