Five Canadiens hopefuls were in action on Wednesday during the penultimate day of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Austria 2 – Latvia 4
Vinzenz Rohrer’s tournament with Austria came to an end in Game 2 of his country’s best-of-three relegation round series against Latvia. The Austrian captain earned the primary assist on the first of the Eagles’ two late tallies, but they were not enough to overcome a 4-0 deficit and a relegation round sweep following Monday’s 5-2 loss. Rohrer heads home with three points (1G-2A) in five games; Austria meanwhile will drop to the Division I, Group A tournament in 2024.
Czechia 2 – Sweden 1
Adam Engstrom and Sweden will need to battle for bronze on Thursday if they are to finish with a medal following an overtime loss to Czechia in Wednesday’s first semifinal. Engstrom fired two shots on goal over 19:01 of ice time in a game which saw the Swedes nearly carry a 1-0 lead into the final, before the Czechs found the equalizer with 39 seconds left in regulation. Buffalo Sabres prospect Jiri Kulich tallied 9:10 into the extra frame to send Czechia to the gold medal game.
USA 2 – Canada 6
Lane Hutson and the Americans fell 6-2 to Joshua Roy, Owen Beck and Team Canada in Wednesday’s second semifinal. The visitors jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but that was all they would get before Canada replied with six unanswered tallies on home ice. Roy potted a pair of goals in the contest, including one in an empty net to bring his tournament total to five.
Teammate and fellow Canadiens prospect Beck picked up an assist in the win, which sends Canada to its fourth consecutive World Juniors final.
Coming up
Hutson and Engstrom will face off for bronze with USA and Sweden, respectively, at 2:30 p.m. ET on Thursday before Roy and Beck go for gold with Canada against Czechia at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Cover photo credit: Matt Zambonin / International Ice Hockey Federation
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