Nylander nets a pair in Sweden's World Juniors opener

Kris Baker will be recapping the action involving Sabres prospects at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship for Sabres.com.
Alexander Nylander (2016, first round) scored twice and Rasmus Asplund (2016, second round) logged a plus-3 rating Monday as Sweden opened the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship with a 6-1 thrashing of Denmark.

Nylander wasted little time getting going, scoring the first goal of the tournament unassisted at 10:11 of the opening frame. Sweden's forecheck forced a turnover along the left wing boards, allowing Nylander to gather the puck in the circle and use a quick move to get a wrist shot off from between the hash marks for the tally.

Just over eight minutes later, Joel Eriksson Ek (MIN) pounded on the rebound of a wrist shot from 16-year-old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin to give Sweden a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.
Carl Grundstrom (TOR) would create noise on the next two scoring plays in the second period, first entering the zone and making a great pass to Jonathan Dahlen (OTT) at the side of the net for a strike at 4:30, and then busting free for a breakaway finish two minutes later to make it a 4-0 lead for Sweden.
Sweden would connect two more times in the second period, starting with a laser-like wrist shot off the stick of Dahlin, who is protected to be a top prospect in the 2018 NHL Draft.
Nylander, who led with Sweden with nine points (4+5) in seven games at last year's tournament, closed out the scoring with his second of the game, taking a hit beneath the goal line and drifting back out toward the goal to cleanly redirect a point shot with 1:38 remaining in the middle frame.

Asplund was unable to get in on the scoring but displayed his usual steadiness in the victory, making several smart plays in the offensive zone and working to support his defenseman down low to limit the Danes to 22 shots on goal. Asplund joins Nylander as a returnee from Sweden's 2016 World Junior entry that was defeated by the United States in the bronze medal game.
Sweden now gets a day off before resetting for a Wednesday tilt versus Switzerland at Bell Centre in Montreal.

In Toronto, defenseman Casey Fitzgerald (2016, third round) earned one assist in 16:39 of action as the United States defeated Latvia 6-1. Clayton Keller (ARI) scored a pair of goals for the Americans, while Patrick Harper (NSH), Colin White (OTT), Jeremy Bracco (TOR) and Jordan Greenway (MIN) provided singles.
Fitzgerald earned a helper on the game's first goal at 6:27 of the first period, making a 20-foot pass from the right point to Harper in the high slot for the stick-side marker.

Nine minutes later, Fitzgerald was on the ice for Latvia's only goal of the game. As a Team USA pass deflected out of the zone to center ice, Fitzgerald was beaten back down the ice by Renars Krastenbergs, who made a nice backhand move for the high-glove finish to knot the game 1-1 at the first intermission.
After committing a turnover in the first minute of the middle frame that caused him to race back and take a hooking penalty, Fitzgerald settled in the rest of the way with improved positional play and some tenacity around his net after the whistle.
The Americans as a whole settled in as well with improved discipline and simpler passing to dominate the remainder of the game.
White got the club back on track with a marker off the break, taking a nice headman feed from Tage Thompson (STL) and skating in to bury the game-winning goal at 6:29 of the second period.
Team USA headed to the second intermission with a 3-1 lead after Keller potted his first of the night at the left post in the game's 39th minute.
Keller struck again with a beauty at 12:19 of the third period, cutting to the middle of the ice and firing a perfectly placed shot against the grain into the top corner.
The Americans weren't done as Bracco stroked an uncontested shot through Mareks Mitens' wickets to make it a 5-1 game with 2:19 left on the clock.
Greenway put the cherry on top, racing into the slot to swat home a rebound with 39.9 seconds remaining for the fifth unanswered goal to seal the victory.
Next up for the United States is a matchup with Slovakia on Wednesday at Air Canada Centre.
For more on all the youngsters in the Sabres pipeline, check out Kris Baker's website, SabresProspects.com. You can also follow him on Twitter (@SabresProspects) for in-game updates throughout the week on any Buffalo prospects that are in action.
Buffalo wil host the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship. For more information including ticket packages, visit BuffaloWorldJuniors.com.