WJC roundup: Wild goalie prospect Wallstedt, Sweden shut out Slovakia

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

Day 2 games

Sweden 3, Slovakia 0 --
Jesper Wallstedt
(Minnesota Wild) made 48 saves for his first World Juniors shutout in Group B at WP Centrium in Red Deer.
"It's always a confidence boost, but I couldn't do this performance without the team in front of me," Wallstedt said. "We had a lot of blocked shots and we put their shots in areas where I often could control the saves, so this performance couldn't be done without the great team in front of me."
Theodor Niederbach
(Detroit Red Wings),
Albert Sjoberg
(Dallas Stars) and
Daniel Ljungman
(Stars) each scored for Sweden (2-0-0-0).
Simon Latkoczy (2022 NHL Draft eligible) made 24 saves for Slovakia (0-0-0-2), which lost 3-2 to the United States on Sunday.
"Slovakia
(Los Angeles Kings) on a one-timer from the bottom of the left face-off circle.
Sweden denied Slovakia on a five-minute power play at 7:31 of the third period that included a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:10. During the power play, Slovakia pulled Latkoczy for a 6-on-4 and a 6-on-3; however, Wallstedt, playing in his second World Juniors, stopped six shots during the Slovakia advantage.
"I think we pushed the shots to the side. We tried to stick tight in the middle and make their shots appear from outside of the box so I can control the shots and control the rebounds better," Wallstedt said. "Otherwise, it went really fast and felt great to get it over with and then we could get the win so that was nice."
Ljungman scored an empty-net goal at 18:45 for the 3-0 final.
Sweden next plays the United States on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET). Slovakia plays Russia on Wednesday (4:30 p.m. ET).
Germany 2, Czechia 1 (OT) -- Alexander Blank (2022 NHL Draft eligible) scored his second goal 1:20 into overtime on a shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle in Group A at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
"I just had some speed picking up the puck and then I saw the defender was not as fast as me, so I just tried to go through him and shoot it to the net," Blank said. "I didn't even know where to shoot it, and then it went in."

Florian Bugl (2022 draft eligible) made 39 saves in his first start of the tournament for Germany (0-1-0-1).
"It's a very important tournament, and to represent the country with a good performance, I think it's the best feeling ever," Bugl said.
Blank gave Germany a 1-0 lead 4:29 into the second period.
Jan Mysak
(Montreal Canadiens) deflected in a shot off the right skate of German defenseman Arkadiusz Dziambor (2022 draft eligible) at the bottom of the left face-off circle for a power-play goal to tie the game 1-1 for Czechia at 15:49.
Jan Bednar
(Detroit Red Wings) made 30 saves in his first start for Czechia (0-0-1-1), which dressed five defensemen and 15 forwards. Czechia defenseman David Jiricek (2022 draft eligible) was not in the lineup because of a lower-body injury and defenseman Michal Hradek did not play due to a suspension he received following a 6-3 loss to Canada on Sunday.
Germany plays Canada on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET). Czechia plays Finland on Wednesday (2 p.m. ET).
Russia 4, Switzerland 2 -- Danila Yurov, an A-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's players to watch list for the 2022 NHL Draft, had a goal and an assist for Russia in Group B in Red Deer.
"He's a good skater, he handles the puck well and he has a strong shot," Russia coach Sergei Zubov said. "We're going to try and use him in the game, 5-on-5, definitely."
Yurov,
Dmitri Zlodeyev
(Vancouver Canucks) and Pavel Tyutnev (2022 draft eligible) each scored in the first period when Russia opened a 3-1 lead. Matvei Michkov, a top prospect for the 2023 NHL Draft, scored his third goal of the tournament, and Yegor Guskov (2022 draft eligible) made 16 saves for Russia (1-0-0-1).
"Scoring at the world junior level is always a great feeling but the most important thing is that we actually won," Zlodeyev said. "We were playing aggressive and doing our job well and here's the result."
Attilio Biasca (2022 draft eligible) and Fabian Ritzmann (2022 draft eligible) each scored, and Kevin Pasche (2022 draft eligible) made 28 saves for Switzerland (0-0-0-1).
"We created some chances but gave up quite a few opportunities for the Swiss team and we hope we're going to get better day by day," Zubov said.
Russia plays Slovakia on Wednesday (4:30 p.m. ET). Switzerland plays the United States on Tuesday (4:30 p.m. ET).
Finland 7, Austria 1 --
Ville Koivunen
(Carolina Hurricanes) had two goals and an assist in Group A in Edmonton.
Brad Lambert (2022 draft eligible) had a goal and two assists for Finland.
Samuel Helenius
(Los Angeles Kings) had a goal and an assist, and
Kasper Simontaival
(Kings),
Topi Niemela
(Toronto Maple Leafs) and
Kalle Vaisanen
(New York Rangers) each scored.
Juha Jatkola (2022 draft eligible) made eight saves in his first start for Finland (2-0-0-0).
The line of Koivunen (two goals, two assists), Helenius (three goals, one assist) and Lambert (one goal, four assists) has combined for 13 points (six goals seven assists) in two games.
"They have a good relationship and they are good hockey players," Finland coach Antti Pennanen said. "Brad Lambert is skillful and fast, Helenius wins the battles and Koivunen has good hockey sense, so it's a really good combination."
Helenius and Lambert are teammates with JYP in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland. Koivunen plays for Karpat in Liiga.
"Two very good players," Koivunen said. "Brad is very good with the puck and very good skating and Helenius is very big (6-foot-6, 201 pounds) and good at defending so I think we complement each other very good."
Martin Urbanek (2022 draft eligible) scored a power-play goal to pull Austria within 3-1 at 5:39 of the second period. Sebastian Wraneschitz (2022 draft eligible) made 41 saves for Austria (0-0-0-1), which dressed nine defensemen and 11 forwards.
Finland next plays against Czechia on Wednesday (2 p.m. ET). Austria plays Canada on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET).
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