WJC Day 1 Roundup

Russia 6, Austria 2: Yevgeni Kuznetsov scored 2 goals for the Russians, but Russia was expected to win by even more as they are one of the favorites to challenge Canada for potential gold. Austrian goalie Lorenz Hern made 27 saves, many of them in spectacular fashion.

Canada 16, Latvia 0: The 16-0 thumping was the largest shutout victory in WJC history for the Canadians. Gabriel Borque, with 3 goals and 4 assists, tied Canada’s record for scoring in a single game. Jake Allen made 10 saves for the shutout for Canada. Nazem Kadri had two goals for Canada, but also served a 10 minute misconduct penalty for a blow to the head.

United States 7, Slovakia 3: Slovakia took a 2 goal lead, but the Americans came back to post a fairly impressive victory in their first game. Seven different US players, including Jordan Schroeder (Minnesota), Danny Kristo (North Dakota), Derek Stepan (Wisconsin) and Jerry D’Amigo (RPI). Matt Donovan (Denver) got the game winning goal. One potential problem? The goaltending. Mike Lee gave up 3 goals and looked shaky all night. The US certainly won’t challenge Canada with that play, and a medal would be a longshot. I would not be surprised at all to see Jack Campbell next game.

The US plays tomorrow at 4 pm vs. Switzerland.