The first six-game day at the 2024 World Championship in Prague and Ostrava was a doozy, to say the least.
In the two early afternoon games, we didn’t see much back and forth. Both ended up being 1-1 at a point, but Canada managed to outscore Great Britain to win their opening game 4-2. In Ostrava, Kazakhstan tackled France with a 3-1 victory, with goaltending making a big difference after the Kazakhs scored all three goals from behind the red line.
In the midday games, we saw something that hadn’t happened in 30 years. With Krzytstof Macias’s shot in the first period, Poland had its first round-robin goal in a top-level World Championship game since the 1994 event – Poland’s second last appearance in this tournament. Latvia would come back to win the game 5-4 in overtime, but it was easily the best game of the tournament thus far. It came at the same time as Denmark cruised to a 5-1 win over Austria in the first game for both teams.
In the evening, things started off ugly for Czechia, who found themselves trailing for more than half the game. In the end, Norway’s inability to get pucks on net in the second half hurt them as Czechia finished with a 6-3 victory thanks to two goals from Roman Cervenka. Meanwhile, USA had a 6-1 win over Germany, with both teams sitting at three points apiece after two days of play.
Here’s a look at the top performers from Day 2:
Canada
#98 Connor Bedard, RW (Chicago Blackhawks): He’s special, man. Bedard scored twice in his first meaningful game with the men’s senior team to give Canada a 4-1 lead. Both were excellent plays, with his first goal showing his hockey IQ by shooting to Jackson Whistle’s off side. Then, four minutes later, he finished off a great passing play between him, Nick Paul, and Kaiden Guhle, making it a 4-1 game. Bedard will have a fun time in Czechia, that’s for sure.
#3 Olen Zellweger, D (Anaheim Ducks): Zellweger was the catalyst for two Canadian goals, with his shots leading to the 2-1 and 3-1 markers. He seemed to handle traffic with ease, making it look like a few years ago when Zellweger was dominating junior-aged players at the WJC. Few defensemen in this tournament see the ice as well as he does.
#8 Michael Bunting, LW (Pittsburgh Penguins): After scoring nothing in his last tournament appearance, Bunting started strong with two points, including the 1-1 goal at 8:17. His shot was in full display, but he also made some good plays on the rush as Canada started to find their momentum.
#22 Dylan Cozens, C (Buffalo Sabres): Maybe it’s a bit more minor compared to others here, but Cozens did a lot of the smaller things well. Whether it be the key defensive zone faceoff wins, the way he battled for the puck or just generally handled it under pressure, it always looked like Cozens was on the positive side of things today. He doesn’t need to be flashy to be good, as today showed.
Great Britain
#14 Liam Kirk, LW: After having his first goal taken away, Kirk answered back at 7:47 on the power play to make it a 1-0 game on GB’s first shot of the game. He then helped set up Ben O’Connor on the 4-2 goal, a beautiful play from both. The former Arizona Coyotes prospect is a high-end shooter who seems to come alive during these international tournaments, and his energy and pure skill gave the Brits some early momentum. They’ll need him to come up big against some of the smaller teams in this tournament if they’re going to avoid relegation.
#1 Jackson Whistle, G: It’s never easy as the young guy coming in and having to deal with Canada. But Whistle looked good in the first, stopping 11 shots in what could have been a lopsided effort there. He finished with 30 stops in a game that could have gone significantly worse without Whistle’s play.
USA
#5 Michael Kesselring, D (Utah): What a game for the rookie blueliner, who only got better as the season wore on. His shot was tipped in for the 1-0 goal and then he pinched in and scored one for himself, his first for USA Hockey. He only had 4:06 of ice time in the first two periods but he made it work.
#12 Matt Boldy, RW (Minnesota Wild): That’s two excellent games for Boldy, who, along with the assist on the 3-0 goal, showed some great backchecking chops today. He made it clear he wanted to be more difficult to play against this season and that’s showing here where he doesn’t lose many puck battles.
#13 Johnny Gaudreau, LW (Columbus Blue Jackets): It’s nice seeing Gaudreau playing the way he has through two games after struggling with Columbus this year. He just looks happy and confident, especially on the power play as he scored the 3-0 goal. After a more difficult showing at this tournament the last time he participated, Gaudreau is a big piece of USA’s early play.
#22 Cole Caufield, RW (Montreal Canadiens): Caufield was so smart with his puck decisions today, registering two assists. His best one was on the Gaudreau goal when, while he was still on his knees, he poked the puck to Boldy, who then proceeded to find Gaudreau to make it 3-0. I guess he doesn’t want Slafkovsky getting all the love after his big opening game yesterday.
#7 Brady Tkachuk, LW (Ottawa Senators): I loved Tkachuk’s netfront presence, which saw him tip in the 1-0 goal early. He’s been good on the power play where he takes sightlines away from goaltenders and plays physical. You know, the usual.
#6 Will Smith, C (San Jose Sharks): Since there seems to be an abundance of Smith fans, I figured I’d mention him here, too. He didn’t score, but he made some great plays with the puck and showed off his hands on more than a few occasions. After barely playing yesterday, he’s quickly adjusting to the pace of play against pros.
Germany
#35 Mathias Niederberger, G: The stats might suggest otherwise, but Niederberger was excellent today. And we’re used to seeing that at this tournament – regardless of the group in front of him, he’s hardly the reason why Germany loses a game. There was some back luck on a couple of the goals, like tips, a power-play goal or when he was screened, but Niederberger kept them in a game that could have gotten significantly worse.
#42 Yasin Ehliz, LW: Ehliz was Germany’s best player yesterday and then was rewarded for his hard work in digging for the 3-1 goal. When he has a chance to score, he’s relentless, and that’s what we saw from him on that play.
Czechia
#10 Roman Cervenka, C: After closing out the shootout yesterday with a goal, Cervenka scored Czechia’s first two goals to give them some much-needed life. Czechia wasn’t getting adequate goaltending from Petr Mrazek early but Cervenka was able to calm everyone down with a great first half, just like you’d hope to see from your leader.
#73 Ondrej Kase, RW: The former NHLer had two assists and was Czechia’s most active shooter, something you love to see after all the health issues that prevented him from being more impactful in the NHL. He was really good yesterday too but was held off the scoresheet. Today, different story.
#93 Matej Stransky, RW: Stransky was active in the first two periods with four shots, including a couple of good looks. But it wasn’t until a bouncing puck went off him and in the third period that he was rewarded for his effort. He battled so hard and held his own against Norway’s defense around the net and deserved that goal.
#96 David Tomasek, C: Tomasek was an absolute beast in the faceoff dot, winning 10 of his first 12 opportunities. He also took sightlines away from Haukeland, who struggled to see the ice on occasion, with Tomasek getting in the way. He also had two high-quality chances in the second that were stopped.
Norway
#33 Henrik Haukeland, G: With Mrazek struggling in the Czech net early, Haukeland’s experience was completely different. He was one of Norway’s most important players as he kept the Czech onslaught at bay. Norway struggled to keep up with the pace, but Haukeland looked excellent when tracking pucks and staying relaxed.
#72 Stian Solberg, D (2024 NHL Draft): Solberg definitely doesn’t look like a teenager out there the way he’s playing. He’s been one of the best defensemen in this tournament, period. He plays all situations for Norway, and he has a goal and a assist early for the team. He’s really helping his draft stock with an excellent showing.
#36 Mats Zuccarello, LW (Minnesota Wild): Zuccarello was great today with two assists, but it ultimately wasn’t enough. He’s fast and skilled and is the play driver for Norway’s top line and Norway will need him to step up as the tournament wears on.
Kazakhstan
#43 Andrey Shutov, G: Shutov made 28 saves in a game dictated by goaltending. While Sebastian Ylonen struggled with three goals from below the goal line, Shutov looked great after that first goal. He made 21 saves over the final two periods as the Kazakhs got outplayed, so Shutov deserved best player honors.
#48 Roman Starchenko, LW: Props to Starchenko for making the smart read on the 1-1 goal. He looked like he was going to make a pass to the slot, but he saw that goaltender Sebastian Ylonen was out of position and completed the wraparound. That’s a veteran type of move in a game Kazakhstan couldn’t afford to lose.
#84 Kirill Savitskiy, LW: Savitskiy had a two-point effort, showing good two-way play despite playing just 13:51. I noticed his speed and long passes on occasion today, although I do wonder why he wasn’t used a ton late in the game. Regardless, it was a great opening day for the 29-year-old, who had two points in each of his past two tournament appearances.
France
#94 Tim Bozon, LW: Bozon led all players with five shots, including three in France’s late-game frenzy. He played 21:50 as France shortened their benches in the second half, and the former Montreal Canadiens prospect had a couple of good looks, only for Shutov to stand tall.
#14 Stephane Da Costa, C: Getting Da Costa back after he was previously not taken due to his KHL affiliation definitely helped. He had three shots in the second period as France looked for him to lead the charge. He didn’t score, but he looked quick and strong on the puck when they needed him to.
Poland
#31 John Murray, G: Murray needed to be so sharp, and his play in the first half really helped give Poland the push they needed. The former AHL goaltender is a big reason why the Polish team made it this far to begin with, tracking pucks so well and not allowing bad goals at bad times. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, and you can see him smiling as much as anyone as the team hit the ice for the first time.
#34 Krzysztof Macias, LW: Macias didn’t just score and then decide to cruise around. He had another good chance in the second and showed some nice hands around the net before eventually scoring again in the third period. At 19, he’s very young but you can tell that goal energized the team and it never wavered.
#20 Marcin Kolusz, D: Kolusz had some of the more difficult matchups for Poland and I thought he handled them well. He saw the ice well, didn’t get in Murray’s way and cleared space when needed. That’s all you can ask for.
Latvia
#70 Miks Indrasis, C: If it wasn’t for Indrasis’ great work on the 1-1 goal, Latvia would have found themselves in deep trouble. The veteran forward is smart and doesn’t succumb to panic, and that allowed him to slow the pace down the way he wanted to help set up the goal.
#16 Kaspars Daugavins, RW: Daugavins was the hero, scoring the game-winning goal off of a great give-and-go with Abols. He also scored the late go-ahead goal in the third to help give them some extra momentum. It’s good to see the former NHLer still putting up good performances at this tournament.
#18 Rodrigo Abols, C: Abols was a menace out there, getitng physical and producing offense. Abols had two points, a game-best 13 faceoff wins and four shots, to boot. The former NHL prospect has a level of intensity that can take over in a game like this and once Poland got too distracted with him, the Latvians took over.
Austria
#19 Vinzenz Rohrer, RW (Montreal Canadiens): The Habs prospect has a good combination of speed and skill but he continues to improve his net-front game. His aggressive nature helped take a Danish defender out of play and resulted in Austria scoring their first of the game, giving the team a bit of momentum. I like Rohrer a lot, and while I’m not sure he’s NHL quality, I thought he was a bit more noticeable than Marco Rossi.
Denmark
#80 Frederik Dichow, G: The Danes needed a big performance from Dichow given goaltending was likely going to be the difference, and Dichow delivered. The former Montreal Canadiens prospect allowed the one goal which he couldn’t see, but was otherwise on top of everything as the Austrians couldn’t beat them with their speed and skill.
#86 Joachim Blichfeld, RW: While it’s been a while since Blichfeld last appeared in a game for the San Jose Sharks, he still has a pro-level shot. He scored to make it 3-1 late in the second, a release he tried to get off a few times earlier in the game with no success. Blichfeld then scored again late to make it 5-1, capping off a dominant effort for the Danes. His pace of play was among the best in this game which you hope to see with someone with NHL experience on a team with little to come by.
#63 Patrick Russell, C: You can always count on Russel having a two-way impact. He had two assists and played 19:45 while helping to really break plays up in his own zone. Russell is a veteran that works well in the faceoff circle and made sure to keep the play active often in the attacking zone.