Updated:
Happy New Year!
Team USA defeated Team Sweden 4-0 on New Years Eve. Trevor Zegras scored a goal and added two assists for Team USA. Zegras now leads Dylan Cozens in the WJC the scoring race. However, Cozens leads the tourney with six goals scored.
There are no games scheduled on New Years Day. On Saturday, quarter-finals action will resume in Group A and Group B.
Here are your up to date scoring leaders.
All is quiet on New Years Day at #WorldJuniors where there is a helluva race for bragging rights in scoring race! @Dylan_Cozens Zegras @peterka_jj and Stutzle are putting on quite the show for hockey fans worldwide. Bravo! pic.twitter.com/78GXNCTvnh
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) January 1, 2021
Team Canada and Team Finland was billed as a heavyweight bout on New Years Eve at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.
It wasn't even a contest.
Canada the Finns from the opening faceoff until the final horn sounded.
Canada will now play the Czech Republic in one quarter-finals on Saturday. The other three quarter-finals games are contingent on the result of the game between Team USA and Team Finland.
Canada's team captain Dylan Cozens, the first round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2019, scored the first goal of the game of a beautiful wrist shot and the final goal of the night into the empty net to seal Canada's convincing 4-1 win.
The legs feed the wolf 🺠and the Yukon Work Horse 🴠#Sabres @Dylan_Cozens https://t.co/eq6nknS4z4
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) January 1, 2021
Cozens scored his fifth and sixth goals of the tournament and now leads the tourney in goals scored and points with eleven.
When captain Kirby Dach broke his wrist in a pre-tournament game, many wondered which Canadian player(s) would step up and carry the leadership mantle. Cozens has been a man amongst boys for his team. He is a tower of power with and without the puck. At 6'3" and 200 lbs., the Whitehorse, Yukon native has literally skated to the front of the line and has been pulling the wagon the for Canada. Talk about impressive!
When @kdach77 was injured and forced to leave the #WorldJuniors Team Canada needed a leader on the ice. @Dylan_Cozens stepped up and has been the best forward in the tourney thus far. The Work Horse From Whitehorse is pulling the wagon for Canada! @BuffaloSabres @WHLHurricanes pic.twitter.com/q3NufhnG10
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) January 1, 2021
Andre Tourigny trusts captain @Dylan_Cozens to defend the lead in final minutes of the game. A great testament to Cozens and his dogged determination #Sabres
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) January 1, 2021
We continue to see evidence as to why Ralph Krueger and Kevyn Adams are so high on Dylan Cozens. After the World Juniors tourney ends on January 5, Cozens will fly to Buffalo where he will quarantine. After his requisite quarantine period is complete, he will find himself playing in the Sabres' top nine forward group. I expect Cozens to blow away the Sabres brass with his determined play and his superb skill set. This won't be a seven game rookie showcase for Cozens and the Sabres. Cozens will earn a full time ride with the Sabres this season and he will 'make an immediate impact of the Sabres and their playoff expectations.