World Junior Championship roundup: Hughes, United States dominate Germany

Tuesday was the first day of the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Day 1 games

United States 5, Germany 1 --
Luke Hughes
, a New Jersey Devils defenseman prospect, had a goal and an assist to lead the United States in its first preliminary-round game in Group B.
Landon Slaggert
(Chicago Blackhawks) and
Riley Duran
(Boston Bruins) also had a goal and an assist each for the United States and Sasha Pastujov (Anaheim Ducks) had two assists. Kaidan Mbereko (2023 draft eligible) made 10 saves.
"The guys came out fast, which was huge," Hughes said. "We hemmed them in a lot all game. Our forecheck was great today. It's a short tournament, we have to get better every day. We're happy with the outcome but that's over and we move on to the next day now."
Joshua Samanski scored for Germany.
Nikita Quapp
(Carolina Hurricanes) made 45 saves and had an assist.
"We didn't compete hard enough, we didn't get the puck out of our zone," Germany defenseman Maximilian Glotzl (2023 draft eligible) said. "We had some bad] penalties where the momentum changed and they got on the board. We have to fix that for tomorrow against Austria. We won the last period and I think we have to take what we did in the last period, we have to build on that for tomorrow."
Hughes' shot from above the right face-off circle through traffic beat Quapp to give the United States a 1-0 lead at 13:39 of the first period.
[Logan Cooley
(Arizona Coyotes) made it 2-0 at 18:01 with a power-play goal after Germany forward Bennet Rossmy (2023 draft eligible) received a game misconduct for an illegal hit to the head.
Slaggert extended it to 3-0 at 1:21 of the second period on a shot from a sharp angle from the goal line, and
Redmond Savage
(Detroit Red Wings) made it 4-0 at 1:57 when he poked in the rebound of a Duran shot.
"We had some great looks tonight," United States coach Nate Leaman said. "I'm proud. We had to stay with it because that goaltender was making some really good saves in that game. I thought the guys got to some rebounds and got rewarded, especially in the second period on a couple bounces."
Duran made it 5-0 with 1:00 left in the second on a shot from above the right face-off circle.
Samanski scored a power-play goal to make it 5-1 at 13:12 of the third period.
The United States next plays Switzerland on Thursday. Germany plays Austria on Wednesday.
Czechia 5, Slovakia 4 --Gabriel Szturc, a prospect for the 2023 NHL Draft, scored with 1:50 remaining in the third period to lead Czechia in its first preliminary-round game in Group A.
Szturc skated with the puck down the right side of the Slovakia zone, cut to the net and scored from in close.
Jan Mysak
, a Montreal Canadiens prospect, and Michal Gut each had a goal and an assist for Czechia, and Jan Bednar (Detroit Red Wings) made 24 saves.
"We're happy we have a win," Mysak said. "That's all we want, that's all we focused on and we have it, so it's perfect."
Matej Kaslik (2023 draft eligible) scored two goals for Slovakia. Simon Latkoczy made 42 saves.
Servac Petrovsky
(Minnesota Wild) gave Slovakia a 1-0 lead at 3:20 of the first period, and Kaslik scored from the left face-off circle to make it 2-0 at 5:57.
"I think we play very good from the start," Slovakia defenseman Rayen Petrovicky said. "We scored two goals. We played very good in the first period, but the second period was very bad for us."
Czechia forward
Martin Rysavy
(Columbus Blue Jackets) made it 2-1 at 2:22 of the second period when he scored off a centering pass from Matous Mensik (2023 draft eligible), and Gut tied the game 2-2 at 13:21 when he knocked a puck underneath Latkoczy.
Matyas Sapovaliv
(Vegas Golden Knights) made it 3-2 at 17:35 of the second. Tomas Urban (2023 draft eligible) took a shot from the left circle that Latkoczy saved with his shoulder, but the puck dropped into the crease and Sapovaliv knocked in the rebound.
Mysak made it 4-2 at 7:56 of the third period when he scored off a turnover at center ice.
"I'm trying to enjoy it, right? I'm here to fight for my country," said Mysak, the Czechia captain. "I don't feel pressure. I just feel this is exciting for me because I saw many legends who played for national team before me. ... So, for me, it's a privilege and I'm happy to be here."
Petrovicky, eligible to be drafted in 2023, made it 4-3 at 13:56 with a 5-on-3 power-play goal, and Kaslik tied it with a power-play goal at 16:48.
"The second period wasn't very good from us, but I think in the third we came back and we tied up the game," Slovakia forward
Jakub Demek
(Golden Knights) said. "Unfortunately, they score in the last minute."
Czechia next plays Finland on Thursday. Slovakia plays Canada on Thursday.
Finland 6, Latvia 1 --
Joakim Kemell
(Nashville Predators) had two goals and two assists for Finland in its first preliminary-round game in Group A.
"We played well but, of course, we think we can improve and play better next game," Kemell told the IIHF website. "But for now we're happy with how today went."
Roni Hirvonen
(Toronto Maple Leafs) had a goal and two assists, and
Aatu Raty
(New York Islanders) had a goal and three assists for Finland.
Leevi Merilainen
(Ottawa Senators) made 19 saves.
Klavs Veinbergs
(Tampa Bay Lightning) scored for Latvia. Bruno Bruveris (2023 draft eligible) made 33 saves.
Kemell gave Finland a 1-0 lead at 8:54 when his pass went off the stick of Latvia defenseman Niks Fenenko (2023 draft eligible) and between Bruveris' skates. He made it 2-0 at 11:29 when he finished a 2-on-1 with Hirvonen.
Brad Lambert
(Winnipeg Jets) extended the lead to 3-0 at 1:52 of the second period with a one-timer from the high slot on the power play, and Hirvonen's power-play goal at 18:01 gave Finland a 4-0 lead.
"I thought it was a good game, the first period was a bit tough, they played a pretty tough game and packed everybody in low and stuff," Lambert said. "We just had to stick to our game plan and trust that we would get our chances and we capitalized on them when we did."
Veinbergs made it 4-1 with a power-play goal on a one-timer from the right circle at 1:28 of the third period.
Raty put Finland up 5-1 at 15:39, scoring from the left circle, and
Kasper Puutio
(Florida Panthers) made it 6-1 at 18:40.
"We're not happy because we lost, but the coach was mad because we played really well for 55 minutes but not in the last five," Latvian captain Ralfs Bergmanis, a 2023 draft-eligible prospect, told the IIHF website.
Finland next plays Czechia on Thursday. Latvia plays Canada on Wednesday.
LNH.com staff writer Guillaume Lepage and NHL.com independent correspondent Derek Van Diest contributed to this report
Quick links
World Junior Championship predictions
Group A preview
Group B preview
World Junior Championship rosters
Tournament schedule
---
Listen: New episode of NHL Draft Class