(Edmonton) Canada’s opponent Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the World Junior Championship was vulnerable in principle.
Posted at 9:56 p.m.
Updated at 10:51 p.m.
Switzerland had won only one game in the preliminary round, a 3-2 snatch victory over Austria, hardly a world power. They even lost to Germany and suffered a 7-1 thaw against the United States.
Canada could expect an easy game, even more so when they opened the scoring after just 67 seconds.
But the sequel did not go according to plan. Switzerland, having nothing to lose, renowned for their pugnacity, forced the Canadians to fight until the end to advance to the semi-finals.
Canada prevailed 6-3, scoring their last goal in an empty net late in the third period.
They were bothered by an aggressive and sustained chase by their opponents on the puck carrier, a strategy that Canada’s first four opponents in the tournament – Latvia, Slovakia, Czechia and Finland –, all pulverized, would have had. advantage to adopt in the end.
The young Canadians were annoyed by the sustained forecheck, lost pucks in their crease, rushed some passes, and lacked discipline in terms of substitutions. They have too often extended their presence on the ice.
They will have to play better Friday against Finland, even if they beat them easily in the last meeting of the preliminary round.
Although he was limited to one assist, captain Mason McTavish still had a strong game, especially since each game a new left winger is auditioned for the first line. Will Cuylle had this honor on Wednesday, he succeeded Brennan Othmann, demoted to the fourth line against the Swiss, and Joshua Roy before him.
Roy, the Canadian’s prospect, didn’t have a perfect game, but he put up a good fight. In a defensive role again, without his regular center Ridly Greig, who went out early in the game with a shoulder injury (it seems), he played 19:33, the highest total after McTavish.
Young sensation Connor Bedard rebounded well after being benched in the third period in the previous encounter. There was poor defensive coverage on an opponent’s goal, but several dangerous shots, a dive to block a shot, a hard-hitting check against a bigger opponent, in short, a lot of dog.
The other player to touch the NHL with McTavish, Kent Johnson, a top-five pick by Columbus in 2021, was quite possibly Canada’s best player on Wednesday.
He got only one assist, but controlled the game well in the opposing zone and served light passes to his teammates as he is used to doing. His line scored half of Canada’s goals.
Finland beat Germany 5-2 to earn the right to a rematch against Canada, thanks in part to four powerplay goals. They will nevertheless have to be better in numerical equality if they want to have the chance to pass in final. The Canadians, it will be recalled, led 5-1 with just over 13 minutes to go in the third when Finland closed the gap with two power play goals in their preliminary phase meeting.