On Boxing Day, the Under-20 World Junior Championships (WJC) got underway in Sweden. Remarkably, it’s the 2024 WJC.
The best hockey prospect tournament in the world is on its second day. Day One provided no upsets.
That included Team USA defeating Norway 4-1 in a closer game due to the brilliance of Norwegian goalie Markus Stensrud. He had 40 saves on 44 shots. He kept the American squad off the scoreboard for nearly the entire first half until Jimmy Snuggerud scored his first goal at 9:59 of the second period.
Gavin Brindley followed up by netting a pair 2:33 apart. His first goal came on the power play when Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault combined to set him up for a one-timer past Stensrud with six minutes left in the second period. Perreault made a good play in front to find Brindley open for the goal.
At even strength, some strong puck pursuit led to Brindley coming out and firing home his second of the game. After Frank Nazar came out with the puck, he passed for Brindley, who put Team USA ahead by three with 3:27 remaining in the second.
In the third period, Norway and Team USA exchanged goals 25 seconds apart. After Petter Vesterheim tallied shorthanded, Isaac Howard scored a power-play goal to restore a three-goal lead with 13:17 left in regulation.
Trey Augustine had a good game in net for Team USA. He stopped 22 of 23 shots to earn the victory. That included a few big saves when the game was scoreless. Norway played well in defeat. They created some scoring chances. It was a strong showing.
Team USA was off on Day Two. They will take on Switzerland on Thursday, Dec. 28 at 11 EST in Frolundaborg. The game can be seen on NHL Network, which exclusively covers every Team USA game. TSN has the rest of the tournament with Canada featured in a top heavy group, with host Sweden and Finland.
While Sweden is expected to be one of the contenders for the gold medal, along with Team USA and Canada, Finland isn’t as strong. Following a tournament-opening 5-2 loss to Canada, they became the first upset victim in group play. Germany pulled off a 4-3 upset earlier today to make history by beating Finland for the first time in 26 games at the WJC.
Philipp Dietl made 40 saves on 43 shots to earn the game’s top player for Germany. That included a couple of clutch stops late when Finland had a power play. They pulled goalie Niklas Kokko for a six-on-four with less than two minutes remaining. But Dietl came up big to backstop Germany to the upset.
By losing its first two games in Group A, Finland must respond when they face Latvia on Friday, Dec. 29. Latvia lost its second straight game in regulation – falling to Canada 10-0 on Wednesday, Dec. 27.
In Group B, Team USA and Slovakia are both undefeated far. Slovakia improved to 2-0 by shutting out Switzerland 3-0. They also defeated Czechia 6-2 on Dec. 26. If both teams remain unbeaten through their first three games, that would set up a clash on New Year’s Eve to determine who wins the group.
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