Jets at the Juniors: Day Four Recap

Day four of the World Junior Championship only featured two games but there were some important points being awarded in the standings. With only two days left of competition after day four, things are starting to shape up in terms of where teams will finish heading into the playoffs.

The first game of the day featured Finland taking on Kazakhstan. As expected, Finland made quick work of Kazakhstan by scoring twice in the first period, twice in the second, and three times in the third en route to a huge 7-1 victory.

Ville Heinola had his best game of the tournament so far as he recorded two assists along with two penalty minutes and a +1 rating while playing 16:55 minutes.

While nobody expected the first game of the day to be close, everyone was expecting a fun showdown between USA and Russia in the other game.

It was an interesting start to the game as neither team was able to find the back of the net in the first period. When the US finally did score, they followed it up with another goal only six seconds later. These two quick strikes gave the US everything they needed to win the game as they were able to hold on in the third period and win the game.

It’s interesting how hockey works sometimes. Canada beats USA but gets destroyed by Russia. Russia on the other hand made Canada look foolish but can only muster one goal against the Americans. That’s the nature of the game and it makes for a really interesting mess at the top of Group B’s standings.

Canada had the day off to regroup after the Russia loss and they will play Germany today. The standings are really interesting in Group B. Currently USA sits first as the only team with two victories, but they’ve also played the most games. With Russia’s loss to the USA and their upset loss to Czech Republic, it paves a path for Canada to finish first or second. Canada needs to beat Germany and Czech Republic and they will have a top two spot. If Canada loses another game, there could be a massive tie for second or third place. Things will start to appear clearer at the end of day five of the tournament.

On the other side of the groups, Sweden and Finland are running away with the one-two spots in the group. Sweden is on the ice today as they play Kazakhstan, while Finland has the day off and plays Switzerland tomorrow. Barring any major upsets, Finland and Sweden should finish atop their group.