Canada began its back-to-back gold medal defense with a solid 5-2 win over Finland to open up the group stage of the World Junior Championships. The Canadians got off to a bit of a jittery start but found their game quickly in the first period. Once they got going, they never stopped and thanks to a ton of depth scoring got off to the right start in this tournament. They found a way to get goals in all three periods and never let Finland truly get back into the contest.
The forechecking was a big key to the overall success of Canada as their relentless pursuit of the puck was a struggle for Finland to fight off all game long. Despite the win, head coach Alan Letang will certainly not be happy with his team’s lack of discipline. Canada took six penalties in this one and two of them led to the only two goals Finland scored. Canada must fix that up to avoid major upsets throughout the tournament. Overall, it was a good start for one of the favorites. Here’s a few things that stood out to me.
The ADB Line Strikes Again
The line of Owen Allard-Nate Danielson–Owen Beck once again was Canada’s best, as the trio combined for two goals, three points, and eight shots on goal. They were a matchup nightmare the entire 60 minutes for Finland. Danielson, in particular, was a force to be reckoned with. The ninth overall pick in last year’s draft by the Detroit Red Wings got the game’s first goal in the first period and added an assist on Allard’s goal in the second period. He showed several flashes of what made him a top-10 pick.
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As for Allard, he was all over the ice and showed the scrappy play that makes such a tough matchup each night. The Soo Greyhound forward has now scored in back-to-back games after today’s performance. He added a goal in the last pre-tournament game vs the United States a few days ago and took that momentum into the contest against Finland. For Beck, despite not scoring, he did a good job of using the forecheck to keep the puck in the offensive zone several times, so his linemates could get on the board. The chances will keep coming for this line, and Letang should certainly continue to rely more and more on them as this tournament moves along.
Rousseau Was Sharp From the Start
Despite giving up two goals, it should be noted that Canada’s starting goaltender was on his game from the opening puck drop. Mathis Rousseau needed to be sharp today, and he was. As the…
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