World Junior Championship quarterfinal matchups set
U.S. to play Germany, Canada takes on Slovakia
On Tap for Day 7
Quarterfinal Round Monday
All games on NHL Network in U.S., TSN in Canada
Finland vs. Sweden (11 a.m. ET) -- Each team is coming off a disappointing loss on the final day of preliminary-round play: Finland lost 6-2 to the United States, Sweden 5-1 to Canada. Sweden leads the tournament at 93.3 percent (14-for-15) on the penalty kill, and is led by forwards
Filip Bystedt
(San Jose Sharks), who has five points (two goals, three assists) and
Isak Rosen
(Buffalo Sabres) with four points (two goals, two assists) and defenseman
Ludvig Jansson
(Florida Panthers) with six points (three goals, three assists).
Finland will need to pick up the pace on offense as it ranks fifth in the tournament in goals (12) and fifth on the power play at 18.2 percent 2-for-11). Forward Sami Paivarinta (2023 NHL Draft eligible) is the only player with at least four points, and there are four with at least three points, including Nashville Predators prospect
Joakim Kemell
(two goals, one assist). "Our loss against the U.S. was like a wake-up call; we all saw what happened," Finland coach Tomi Lamsa said. "That's the level where we have to get to now, when all these best teams are left. This is the level we need to find and it means we need to take a few more steps right direction against Sweden."
Czechia vs. Switzerland (1:30 p.m. ET) -- Czechia earned the top seed in Group A after an 8-1 win against Germany on Saturday, marking the first time it finished first in pool play since 2001. Czechia ranks second in the tournament in goals (24) and has been led by defensemen
David Spacek
(Minnesota Wild) with six points (three goals, three assists) and
Stanislav Svozil
(Columbus Blue Jackets) with six points (one goal, five assists). "We have a lot of players who play in the CHL and on small rinks and everybody knows how to play in specific areas of the rinks and that helps a lot," Spacek said.
Switzerland won all three of its games in extra time (one in overtime, two in a shootout) and is a confident bunch after a 4-3 shootout win against Slovakia on Saturday. "We showed everyone we can beat the big countries ... it doesn't matter who we play," Switzerland defenseman Rodwin Dionicio (2023 draft eligible) said. "We're going to stick to our system, play our game. We're going for it." Switzerland forward Attilio Biasca (2023 draft eligible) has two goals, four points and averages 23:25 of ice time.
United States vs. Germany (4 p.m. ET) -- The United States, third in the tournament with 19 goals, finished first in pool play for the second straight year; it lost to Czechia in the quarterfinal round at the 2022 WJC. The United States has been bolstered by a puck-moving corps of defensemen that includes
Luke Hughes
(New Jersey Devils), tied for the tournament lead for goals (three) by a defenseman,
Sean Behrens
(Colorado Avalanche),
Ryan Ufko
(Nashville Predators) and
Lane Hutson
(Montreal Canadiens). Forward
Logan Cooley
(Arizona Coyotes) has a point in every game for the United States and his seven points (two goals, five assists) are tied for third in tournament scoring with University of Minnesota teammate
Jimmy Snuggerud
(St. Louis Blues) with seven points (three goals, four assists).
Germany has scored the fewest goals (eight) and has the lowest power-play percentage (6.2 percent) of the eight teams that qualified for the quarterfinals. "It's a big thing for Germany to be in the quarterfinals, but we're not done yet," Germany captain Bennet Rossmy (2023 draft eligible) said. "I think we can move on if we just work hard, put pucks on the net, and do the little things right."
Canada vs. Slovakia (6:30 p.m. ET) -- Canada leads the tournament in power-play goals (12) and power-play percentage (57.1 percent). Forward Connor Bedard, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft, leads all players in the tournament in goals (six), assists (12) and points (18). He's tied with Dale McCourt (1977) and Brayden Schenn (2011) for the most points by a Canada player; the single-tournament record was set by Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg at the 1993 WJC (31 points in seven games). Bedard is two points from becoming the seventh player in WJC history to reach 20 points (Forsberg; Markus Naslund, 24 points, 1993; Raimo Halminen, 24 points, 1984; Robert Reichel, 21 points, 1990; Vladimir Ruzicka, 20 points, 1983; Esa Keskinen, 20 points, 1985). "Bedard's confidence level is through the roof right now and the key in this game is having confidence and having a positive mindset," Canada forward
Brennan Othmann
(New York Rangers) said. "He takes everything super easy at such a young age. He's going to be an outstanding NHL player in the future. He's lighting up a tournament right now that's hard to light up."
Canada forward
Logan Stankoven
(Dallas Stars) ranks second in the tournament with eight points (two goals, six assists). Canada captain
Shane Wright
(Seattle Kraken) has six points (three goals, three assists), and defenseman
Olen Zellweger
(Anaheim Ducks) has five assists.
Slovakia won 6-3 against the United States in round-robin play and has the second-best power play in the tournament at 44.4 percent (4-for-9). Forward
Filip Mesar
(Montreal Canadiens) has five points (two goals, three assists) and defenseman
Simon Nemec
(New Jersey Devils) has four points (one goal, three assists) while averaging 26:33 in ice time.
Day 6 results
Switzerland 4, Slovakia 3 (SO)
Czechia 8, Germany 1
United States 6, Finland 2
Canada 5, Sweden 1
What We Learned on Day 6
Dionicio's delivery
Rodwin Dionicio transitioned to defenseman four seasons ago while playing in his native Switzerland, but that didn't mean he lost his flair for some offensive swagger.
The 18-year-old, who plays with Niagara of the Ontario Hockey League, proved it in the 10th round of the shootout when he flicked a one-handed shot between the pads of goalie Adam Gajan (2023 draft eligible) in a 4-3 upset of Slovakia at Avenir Centre.
"I actually saw that move before from the Nashville Predators camp over the summer," Dionicio said. "Joakim Kemell did it at camp. I saw it and I just took it off from him and it worked, so that's all that matters."
Dionicio said he practiced the move Friday not knowing he'd have to pull it off a day later.
"I actually didn't practice the move a lot, but I tried it out [Friday] and I was confident with it," he said. "I just decided to go with what works."
Dionicio has seven points (four goals, three assists) in 17 games this season with Niagara, which selected him No. 18 in the 2021 Canadian Hockey League import draft.
"I played forward four years ago with Bern in Switzerland's junior division, so this is my fourth year on defense and that's why I always have the offensive mindset," he said. "It was a really long shootout, so I took the opportunity for my team, and it was pretty cool in the end."
Star-Spangled magic
United States linemates Snuggerud, Cooley and
Cutter Gauthier
(Philadelphia Flyers) are proving to be quite a handful for the opposition at the World Juniors.
The three had their best showing of the tournament when it mattered most, combining for eight points (two goals, six assists) in a 6-2 win against Finland at Avenir Centre. Snuggerud, who plays right wing, led the way with four points (one goal, three assists). Cooley, the center, had three points (one goal, two assists).
Snuggerud and Cooley are teammates at the University of Minnesota.
"I thought they were excellent," United States coach Rand Pecknold said. "I think a big thing for them was we were rolling four lines most of the night (against Finland). So when they were getting on the ice they were fresh, they were energized, and their shift lengths were excellent. They were changing on time and getting rewarded for that when they get out there. They're getting out there against tired players and they've got a lot of jump in their step."
Snuggerud (four goals) and Cooley (two goals) are tied for the U.S. lead with seven points each and Gauthier, a freshman at Boston College, is third (five assists).
Pecknold said Gauthier has been one of the more pleasant surprises throughout the tournament.
"Cutter's been great in terms of, obviously, he's an elite talent, but I've been really happy with his buy-in," Pecknold said. "He's doing the things we need, with structure and some of our retrievals, so I've been really happy there."
Goaltending goodness
The eight countries that qualified for the quarterfinal round all have one thing in common -- goalies capable of stealing a game.
At the top of the list is Finland's Jani Lampinen (1.00 goals-against average, .933 save percentage in two games), who likely will face Sweden's
Carl Lindbom
(1.74 GAA, .941 save percentage, four games), a Vegas Golden Knights prospect, in that quarterfinal showdown.
Look for Germany's
Nikita Quapp
(2.02 GAA, .951 save percentage, three games), a Carolina Hurricanes prospect, to face U.S. goalie Trey Augustine (1.67 GAA, .925 save percentage, three games), who, at age 17, is the youngest of the group and a first-year eligible for the 2023 draft.
Slovakia's Adam Gajan (1.95 GAA, .939 save percentage, three games) is expected to face Canada's Thomas Milic (1.21 GAA, .938 save percentage, three games), a 2023 draft prospect. Czechia's Tomas Suchanek (1.49 GAA, .932 save percentage, four games) will likely work opposite of Switzerland's Kevin Pasche (2.21 GAA, .893, three games) in a matchup of 2023 draft eligible goalies.
