WJC roundup: 2021 No. 1 pick Power scores hat trick in Canada win

Sunday is the first day of the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.

Day 1 games

Canada 6, Czechia 3 --
Owen Power
(Buffalo Sabres) scored a hat trick to lead Canada in its first preliminary-round game in Group A at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Power is the first Canada defenseman to score three goals in a game at the World Juniors.
"There's been a ton of really good players come to play in these tournaments," Power said. "I had no idea that no one had got a hat trick. Just surprised. ... It's pretty special, it's my first hat trick I've ever had. To do it on this stage and wearing a Canada jersey is definitely pretty special."

Cole Perfetti
(Winnipeg Jets) had three assists for Canada and
Mason McTavish
(Anaheim Ducks) had a goal and an assist.
Dylan Garand
(New York Rangers) made 14 saves.
Michal Gut (2022 draft eligible) had a goal and an assist for Czechia and
Pavel Novak
(Minnesota Wild) and
Stanislav Svozil
(Columbus Blue Jackets) scored.
Jakub Malek
(New Jersey Devils) made 30 saves.
McTavish gave Canada a 1-0 lead at 4:00 of the first period but Czechia scored the next three goals. Gut finished a 2-on-1 with
Jakub Brabenec
(Vegas Golden Knights) at 7:42, Novak scored a power-play goal at 11:32 and Svozil scored on the rush to make it 3-1 at 12:23.

Canada coach Dave Cameron called a time out and said the message to his players was to take a deep breath and stop trying to force things.
"Just settle down and relax, make plays," Cameron said. "It's just, be calm, just play hockey. Protect the puck, make good decisions with the puck. Don't try and play the whole tournament in the first 10 minutes of the first game."
Power scored from a sharp angle at 12:46 to make it 3-2, and
Donovan Sebrango
(Detroit Red Wings) tied the game 3-3 at 19:31.
Three straight penalties on Czechia in the second period led to consecutive back-to-back 5-on-3 power plays for Canada, and Power scored on both of them. He beat Malek on a one-timer to the short side from the right circle at 8:50 to make it 4-3, and then he got to the net and scored on the rebound of a McTavish shot to complete the hat trick at 10:15.
"The guys were playing well defensively, they were doing the stuff we told them to do," Czechia coach Karel Mlejnek said. "On the other hand we obviously aren't disciplined. That was a key part of our game and that's one of the reasons we lost."
Olen Zellweger
(Ducks) closed the scoring with a power-play goal at 13:22 of the third period.
Canada next plays Austria on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET). Czechia plays Germany on Monday (7 p.m. ET).
United States 3, Slovakia 2 --
Drew Commesso
(Chicago Blackhawks) made 23 saves for the United States in its Group B opener at WP Centrium in Red Deer.
Matthew Knies
(Toronto Maple Leafs),
Mackie Samoskevich
(Florida Panthers) and
Landon Slaggert
(Blackhawks) scored for the United States, which won the 2021 WJC.
"You've got to find ways to win," United States defenseman
Jake Sanderson
said. "It's not going to be pretty hockey for 60 minutes, you've got to chip away, get pucks deep and just get to work. It's not going to be pretty hockey, but it's winning hockey, and that's what's going to win this tournament."

Martin Chromiak
(Los Angeles Kings) scored two goals for Slovakia. Simon Latkoczy (2022 draft eligible) made 39 saves.
Knies finished a pass into the low slot from Logan Cooley (2022 draft eligible) for a 5-on-3 goal to give the United States a 1-0 lead at 13:35 of the first period.
Samoskevich scored a power-play goal on a one-timer to make it 2-0 at 15:18.
Slaggert made it 3-0 at 12:42 of the second period when he found a loose puck in the crease.
The United States out-shot Slovakia 23-2 in the second period, but Slovakia had 14 shots on goal in the third.
"They started throwing the puck to the net from everywhere, which is good for them," United States coach Nate Leaman said. "I thought he held the fort really well. ... I'm really happy with Drew's performance today. It's a great bright spot for us."
Chromiak scored twice in the third period. He made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 1:03. And after a United States turnover in the neutral zone, he made it 3-2 at 17:27 when he scored in close off a pass from Simon Nemec (2022 draft eligible).
"We had two power plays in the first period
(Philadelphia Flyers),
Alexander Holtz
(New Jersey Devils) and
Simon Edvinsson
(Detroit Red Wings) each had a goal and an assist in the first game of Group B, at WP Centrium in Red Deer.
Oskar Olausson
(Colorado Avalanche),
Theodor Niederbach
(Red Wings) and
Daniel Ljungman
(Dallas Stars) also scored for Sweden.
Jesper Wallstedt
(Minnesota Wild) made 27 saves.
"I think we played well," Edvinsson said. "We were pretty sharp and had a good mindset. The game had its ups and downs, but we were strong on defense and in front of their net as well. I think we did a good job."

Matvei Michkov, a top prospect for the 2023 NHL Draft, scored two goals for Russia, and
Fedor Svechkov
(Nashville Predators) scored. Yegor Guskov (2022 draft eligible) made five saves. He replaced
Iaroslav Askarov
(Predators), who made 13 saves on 16 shots in two periods.
"The game didn't turn out the way we had hoped," Michkov said. "But we will learn from it and be ready to play tomorrow because each game gets more important as the tournament goes on."
Olausson scored a power-play goal to make it 1-0 at 5:24 of the first period.
Edvinsson scored on a shorthanded breakaway to make it 2-0 at 7:39 of the second, and Andrae scored on a two-man advantage to give Sweden a 3-0 lead at 14:16.
Svechkov made it 3-1 at 16:28 of the second, but Holtz made it 4-1 with a 5-on-3 goal at 3:26 of the third.
Michkov got Russia within 4-3 with two goals in 41 seconds in the third. He was credited with a goal at 4:45 after a replay review showed his shot got past Wallstedt, and his backhand out of the corner went off the stick of Sweden's
William Eklund
(San Jose Sharks) and over Wallstedt's shoulder at 5:26.
Niederbach scored off the rush to make it 5-3 at 11:37 and Ljungman added an empty-net goal with 50 seconds remaining.
"I liked our competitiveness," Sweden coach Tomas Monten said. "We scored six goals and I don't think that we're going to be a team that scores that much every game. I think most important for us is to play a good defensive game, play a grinding game. I think we skated with the Russians, but I think we kept our cool defensively."
Sweden next plays Slovakia on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET). Russia plays Switzerland on Monday (4:30 p.m. ET).
Finland 3, Germany 1:
Samuel Helenius
(Los Angeles Kings) scored two goals for Finland in the Group A opener at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Brad Lambert, a top prospect for the 2022 NHL Draft, had two assists and Joel Maatta (2022 draft eligible) scored.
Leevi Merilainen
(Ottawa Senators) made 23 saves.

Lambert said what stood out was how good of a team game Finland played.
"Just how we stick together and the team atmosphere," he said. "I think you can go a long way by just playing as a team and battling as a team, playing defense as a team and being just a tight five-man unit. I think that's the biggest strength of the team."
Luca Munzenberger
(Edmonton Oilers) scored for Germany.
Nikita Quapp
(Carolina Hurricanes) made 19 saves.
"I think it was a good game from us," Quapp said. "We were much better than the pre-tournament] game against Slovakia [4-0 loss Thursday]. I think we had great breakouts, we had no real problem to get out of the zone. I think that's the thing we can build on."
Helenius cut through the crease to redirect a Lambert point shot at 12:52 of the first period to make it 1-0.
Munzenberger one-timed a rolling puck past Merilainen for a power-play goal to tie the game 1-1 at 3:27 of the second.
Maatta scored off the rebound a shot by
[Aleksei Heimosalmi
(Carolina Hurricanes) to put Finland ahead 2-1 at 7:38 of the second.
Helenius drove to the net and tipped a Lambert centering pass in to make it 3-1 at 7:53 of the third.
Finland next plays against Austria on Monday (2 p.m. ET). Germany plays Czechia on Monday (7 p.m. ET).
Quick links
World Junior Championship predictions
Group A preview
Group B preview
World Junior Championship rosters
Tournament schedule
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