As a Senators fan living in Vancouver, I was given the opportunity to get a press pass for the entire World Junior Championships this year, which I am very grateful for. Unfortunately, I will only be able to go to a few games, but tonight I was able to cover Canada vs. Switzerland.
With Team Canada coming off of an absolute beat-down of Team Denmark on Boxing Day, they knew that Team Switzerland was going to be a bit of a tougher opponent. For some reason, Switzerland has always given Canada a run for their money at any sort of international tournament, and tonight was no different---at least in terms of the score.
If you just saw the score, you would think that Switzerland did a good job of keeping Canada out of their zone. However, the first period was a dominant one for Canada. The shots were just 7-4 for Canada after 20 minutes, but it would have been a lot more if not for a plethora of blocked shots. And in terms of raw puck possession, they had the puck in Switzerland’s zone for almost the entire time. In fact, just 36 seconds into the game, a former Vegas prospect duo helped give Canada the lead, with Nick Suzuki feeding a sneaky pass to Cody Glass:
Cody Glass (@pdxwinterhawks), 36 seconds in for Canada! #WorldJuniors #REPRESENT pic.twitter.com/wVaqXmRpud
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 28, 2018
The only good chance for Switzerland in the period came from Valentin Nussbaumer, he of phenomenal nomenclature.
In the second period though, the game got dicey very fast. This time it was 46 seconds into the period that Switzerland would score the first of their own, thanks to a wicked one-timer from a wide open Philipp Kurashev. Then just minutes later, it looked as if they were somehow going to take the lead as Yannick Bruschweiler had a glorious opportunity in the slot, but Ian Scott was there to save the day:
Ian Scott (@PARaidersHockey & @MapleLeafs) flashing leather for his best save of the evening! 😱#WorldJuniors 🇨🇦 #REPRESENT pic.twitter.com/OIw9saaZqD
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 28, 2018
In that instance, the crowd got back into the game, as everyone realized that it was still a close game that Switzerland actually had a chance in.
Luckily for Canada, they were able to bounce back from a scary five minutes, as Chicago prospect MacKenzie Entwistle buried a drop-pass to make it 2-1 almost six minutes into the second period. The assist on the play? None other than former Senators prospect Shane Bowers. At one point in the period, the shots on goal were actually 9-9, and it appeared as if Switzerland was about to get involved in a back-and-forth shootout-style match.
Defenseman Noah Dobson had other plans though, as he used his fantastic speed and strength to drive wide and score five-hole on goaltender Akira Schmid:
The 12th overall pick from this year's draft, Noah Dobson (@ABTitan & @NYIslanders), scores to make it 3-1 for Canada!#WorldJuniors 🇨🇦 #REPRESENT pic.twitter.com/nuFow7VXtz
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 28, 2018
It was 3-1 after two periods, with Canada taking back control of the game in the last 15 minutes of the period. Despite the Vancouver crowd being predictably quiet in the beginning portion of the game, they were getting into it as the game progressed. Hell, the beginning of the third period even had a “Let’s Go Canada!… chant, waking everyone up.
The third period was quiet early on with neither team was willing to really go for it, as Switzerland always plays quite passively, even while being down by two. At one point in the period, Maxime Comtois had a questionable hit on defenseman Davyd Barandun, and Barandun had to leave the game after not being able to get up for a while:
Comtois is going to get himself into some trouble this tournament. He’s always looking for a hit even when it isn’t there, a la Tom Wilson. In this case injury is caused by Bonadun trying to avoid the hit, but if Bonadun had time to move, Comtois had time to stop or turn. pic.twitter.com/pm0X2rPbNz
— ToughCall (@ToughCallBlog) December 28, 2018
To finish the game, Nick Suzuki went to the box for a tripping penalty, giving Switzerland a last gasp for air with 2:26 remaining. With the goalie pulled and a 6 on 4 in place, Kurashev was able to pot home his second of the game after a frantic 10-15 seconds around Canada’s net. With the score 3-2 with 1:49 left, the game was far from over.
However, Kurashev cancelled out his goal by getting an incredibly ill-timed cross-checking penalty right after the goal, making a complete comeback almost impossible. Right after that Nick Suzuki returned the favour with a penalty of his own, making things interesting again for the final minute. Switzerland finally pushed at the end of the game and gave Canada a run for their money, but Scott stopped everything that he needed to.
A Canada win was expected, although one would think that it would have been a bigger goal differential. However, like I said, Switzerland seems to find a way to make games close. With the regulation win, Canada is now 2-0-0 and in 1st place in their division.
Notable Performances:
---Owen Tippett: seeing his shot in person is something else. His release is so fast that it’s easy to see how he is going to be a star player in the NHL. ---Maxime Comtois: he’s the captain for a reason, and one of those reasons is that he is consistently buzzing around the ice. He creates chances out of nothing simply due to his speed. His hit on Barandun wasn’t a good look though. ---Nando Eggenberger: First of all, he is one of about a dozen fantastic names on the Switzerland roster. However, he is also an impressive player. He is one of the fastest players on the ice, and it’ll be interesting to see if a team gives him a shot with an entry-level contract or if they will draft him as a 20-year-old. ---Ian Scott: he didn’t have to face too many shots, but he showed off his athleticism with his unbelievable save on Bruschweiler. ---David Aebischer: I didn’t notice anything about his play on the ice, but I just wanted to say that it is insane that his name is David Aebischer and he isn’t related to former goaltender David Aebischer. Mind=blown. ---Barret Hayton: I wasn’t going to say much, but he won the player of the game, so it’s hard to ignore a performance like that. ---Alexis Lafreniere: you can see how much skill he possesses and why he is most likely to go 1st overall not this draft but in 2020. At the same time, he didn’t look fully confident out there and missed a glorious opportunity right in front of the net in the second period. I can see him having a breakout game soon tgh. ---Philipp Kurashev: he scored both goals for the Swiss and was the most electric player for their team. He also unsurprisingly won player of the game for them. The 4th round pick of the Blackhawks might actually have an NHL career ahead of him.
Thanks for reading, and be sure to come back when I’ll be covering two quarter final games next Wednesday!