December 29th World Junior recap

Game 11, Latvia vs Sweden:

In a complete miss-match on paper, a miss-match on the ice occurred, as the Swedes were pitted against the Latvians.

Mark Owuya started for the first time for Sweden, while Raimonds Ermics started for the first time in this tournament.

Latvia didn't get off to a great start, with Ronalds Cinks getting the call for Hooking just a minute into the game, and it would prove to cost his club.

Mattias Tedenby capitalized on Cinks penalty, with assists being dished to Andre Petersson and Erik Karlsson. 1-0 Sweden.

The score quickly escalated to 2-0 after prospect Magnus Svensson Paajarvi scored his first of the tournament, from Simon Hjalmarsson and Joakim Andersson.

The score clock read 3-0 after Petersson's first in Ottawa, and Svensson Paajarvi scored his second of the game making things 4-0.

Sweden kept putting it on, and lead 5-0 after Nicklas Lasu scored for his country. Carl Gustafsson had the assist.

Luckily for Latvia, they headed into the intermission with at least a goal, Roberts Jekimovs netting his first of the tournament. Janis Ozolins and Janis Straupe had the assists.

5-1 in favour of Sweden, after a period of play at the Civic Centre.

Well, you'd probably like me to say that the underdog Latvians came back in the 2nd, but truth be told, they didn't.

Simon Hjalmarsson put his 2nd goal of the tourny past now-Latvian goalie Nauris Enkuzens who replaced Ermics after just 13:42 of play. 6-1.

I'll sum it up quickly, because the rest of the game just involved more and more scoring on behalf of the Swedish side. Sweden came up with the win, 10-1, crushing the Latvians.

GAME NOTES:

- In his only appearance of the tournament so far, Mark Owuya stopped 10 of 11 shots fired from the Latvians. Jacob Markstrom will probably get the nod for Sweden against Russia.

- Nauris Enkuzens only played 46:18, but faced 44 shots, and allowed 7 goals.

- Raimonds Ermics stopped 14 of 17 that came his way, before he was yanked in favour of Enkuzens.

- Janis Ozolins had an assist for Latvia, as did Janis Straupe, but Ozolins also lead his team in shots, with 3, while Roberts Jekimovs (with the lone goal), Kriss Grundmanis and Edgars Lipsbergs each had a pair of shots.

- Despite scoring a goal, Jekimovs was -3.

- Victor Hedman, a coveted prospect for Sweden, had an assist, and 4 shots on goal, finishing +2.

- Erik Karlsson, a Swedish defenceman, had a goal and two assists, to go along with 5 shots.

- Mikael Backlund didn't have any points, while LA Kings forward Oscar Moller had an assist.

- Joakim Andersson and Andre Petersson each had a goal and an assist.

- Simon Hjalmarsson had a goal and an assist, while Magnus Svensson Paajarvi had two goals and two assists, shooting on net 9 times, to lead his club.

Game 12, Germany vs Canada:

Canada was expected to destroy Germany, such as they did with Kazakhstan, so Chet Pickard got the nod in net for the 2nd straight game, while Philipp Grubauer was the German netminder, despite Timo Pielmeier playing well for Germany against the USA.

Zach Boychuk opened the scoring for Canada on a PP, his 2nd of the tournament from Tyler Ennis and Ryan Ellis.

1-0 Canada after a period. It was actually surprising, considering their opponents were from Germany. But the Germans played a similar style of play against the US that kept them in the game through a period.

Jamie Benn, fresh off of a hat-trick the game before, scored on a 2-man advantage for Canada, from John Tavares and Ryan Ellis. 2-0 Canadians.

Stefan Della Rovere took a Cross-Checking penalty minutes later, and just 12 seconds into the man-advantage, David Wolf scored Germany's first goal, from Sinan Akdag and Conor Morrison. 2-1, and it was once again a tight hockey game.

A minute into the 3rd, a mad scramble for the puck ensued at the German net, and it was Evander Kane who came out with the puck, putting it past Grubauer. 3-1, on Kane's second of the tournament.

John Tavares opened up the game for Canada with his 5th for the Canadians, from PP mates Hodgson and Eberle, with the PP unit on the ice.

Zach Boychuk managed his second of the game, from Di Domenico and Pietrangelo with 4 minutes remaining, and once again with the Powerplay. 5-1 Canada was the final.

GAME NOTES:

- Grubauer stopped 44 of 49, while his counterpart Pickard let in a goal on 13 shots.

- Denis Reul had 25 minutes in penalties for Germany, after hitting Angelo Esposito viciously, which resulted in a Game Misconduct.

- Of his club's 13 shots, Jerome Flaake was responsible for 5 of them, while Gerrit Fauser had 3.

- John Tavares added a goal and an assist, on 9 shots.

- Zach Boychuk had a pair of goals on 5 shots, and Evander Kane had his 2nd goal of the tournament in the 3rd period.

- Jamie Benn had a goal, he has four in his last two games, and Ryan Ellis had assists on the first two Canadian goals.