The best teams of the 2016 World Juniors feasted on their lesser competitors on Wednesday.
2016 World Junior Championships: USA demolishes Switzerland, Sweden advances to quarterfinal
Routs galore.
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The United States, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic all won, tightening the races to reach the quarterfinals. The only team in the tournament who doesn’t have to fret about their position is Sweden, who won their group thanks to a huge four-point lead over Canada.
USA’s destroys Switzerland in 10-1 rout
The Americans essentially won their game on Wednesday in the first twenty minutes.
Switzerland found a few chances early, but USA goalie Alex Nedeljkovic turned them all aside. When Christian Dvorak poked home a goal to put the U.S. up 1-0, the floodgates opened. Auston Matthews scored a minute later, and Brandon Carlo followed shortly thereafter with his first goal of the tournament. Swiss goalie Joren van Pottelberghe couldn't shut the door, as Zach Werenski, Matthew Tkachuk and Nick Schmaltz all scored to give USA a 6-0 lead after the first period.
It only got worse from there. Though the Swiss got on the board with a Timo Meier goal early, the Americans scored four more times in the second period. The score would hold and the U.S. coasted to their second win of the tournament.
Sweden suffocates Denmark to clinch Group A crown
This 5-0 win for Sweden wasn’t close. Swedish goalie Felix Sandstrom only faced eight shots the entire game while his team poured 48 shots on Danish goalie Thomas Lillie. Sweden advanced to the quarterfinals with the win.
Twelve Swedes finished with at least a point, and Oskar Lindblom finished with a goal and an assist. With his second goal of the tournament, Alex Nylander briefly took the tournament lead in points with six.
Finland starts slow, finishes with big 8-3 win over Slovakia
The high-flying Finns found themselves in an odd position after one period on Wednesday, trailing the Slovaks 2-1 at the break. Things quickly got away from Slovakia.
Finland took the lead with goals from Roope Hintz and Aleksi Saarela in the second period before the dam finally burst in the third. That’s when Finland’s best players came out to play: Jesse Puljujarvi, Sebastian Aho, Patrik Laine and Kasperi Kapenen all scored as part of a six-goal frame for the host country. Puljujarvi (10), Aho (7) and Laine (7) now lead the tournament in points. Yet Finland still sits third in Group B behind the Czech Republic and Russia.
Czech Republic survives Belarus scare
The Czech Republic’s hold on second place in Group B is stronger after their 5-3 win over Belarus on Wednesday. Belarus actually hung with the Czechs for two periods, taking a 3-2 lead thanks to goals from Stepan Falkovski, Yegor Sharangovich and Vladislav Goncharov in the second period.
But the Czech Republic dominated pace for most of the game and stepped it up another level in the third. Jiri Smejkal tied the game at 3-3 early in the frame, and Radek Vesely scored the game winner just two minutes later. An empty-netter by Dominik Masin sealed the win late in the frame for the Czech Republic. The winless Belarusians have now lost six straight WJC games against the Czechs.
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