Four Devils prospects compete in the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship: Alex Holtz (Sweden), Shakir Mukhamadullin (Russia), Luke Hughes (United States) and Jakub Malek (Czechia).
UNITED STATES 3, SLOVAKIA 1
The United States team put in a strong performance, beating Slovakia 3-2 in their first game of the tournament. Luke Hughes had 16:36 of ice time and was dropped from the scoresheet at odds of -1.
The first 13 minutes of the opening period were scoreless before the Americans scored for two, 1:43 apart to take a 2-0 lead.
Landon Slaggert scored in the middle of the second to extend the United States’ lead to 3-0. Slovakia added two goals in the third to make things interesting, including a denied scorer.
The shots on goal were 42-25 in favor of the United States, with a dominant 23-2 in the second period.
Team USA’s next game is a game against Switzerland on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET. You can watch this on NHL Network.
CANADA 6, CZECHIA 3
The top pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and defenseman Owen Power had a hat trick to lead Canada to a 6-3 victory from behind over Czechia.
Devils prospect Jakub Malek, a 2021 fourth-round pick, is Czechia’s starting goalie in the tournament and was between the posts tonight. Malek stopped 30 of 36 shots in a wasted effort.
Canada opened the scoring on a Mason McTavish goal, but soon after, the Czechs scored three quick goals to take a 3-1 lead. Twenty-three seconds after Czechia’s third goal, Power scored his first of the night to make it a one-goal game. Donovan Sebrango scored with 29 seconds left in the opening frame to send the game into intermission with the teams tied 3-3.
Midway through the second, Power scored two goals 1:25 apart to put Canada ahead 5-3. At the end of the third, Owen Zellwegger added another to advance to the final 6-3.
The next stop for the Czech Republic is a Monday game against Germany at 7 p.m. ET. This game can be seen on NHL Network.
SWEDEN 6, RUSSIA 3
Alexander Holtz had one goal and one assist as well as three shots on goal in 19:46 of ice time to help Sweden win 6-3 over Russia to open the tournament. Shakir Mukhamadullin had three shots on goal and scored -1 for Russia.
Sweden scored the only goal of the game in the first half. Holtz assisted on Oskar Olausson’s goal five minutes into the game.
The Swedes scored two more goals to open the second before Russia finally responded to start the second intermission 3-1. Three minutes after the start of the third, Holtz scored to extend the lead to 4-1. A minute later, Russian Matvei Mitkov scored two goals 41 seconds apart to close the gap to 4-3. Sweden added a pair to close the game and prevent the comeback.
Russia will play Switzerland at 4:30 p.m. ET on Monday, while Sweden will also play Monday against Slovakia at 9:30 p.m. ET. Both games can be seen on NHL Network.
