Sunday is the first day of the IIHF World Junior Championship 2022, held in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.

Game day 1

Finland 3, Germany 1: Samuel Helenius (Los Angeles Kings) scored two goals for Finland in the Group A premiere at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Brad Lambert, a top prospect for the 2022 NHL Draft, had two assists and Joel Maatta (2022 Qualifying Draft) scored. Leevi Merilainen (Ottawa Senators) made 23 saves.

Lambert said that what stood out was how good team play Finland played.

“Just how we stick together and the team atmosphere,” he said. “I think you can get far by just playing as a team and fighting as a team, playing defense as a team and just being a tight five-man unit. I think that’s the team’s greatest strength.”

Luca Munzenberger (Edmonton Oilers) scored for Germany. Nikita Quapp (Carolina Hurricanes) made 19 saves.

“I think it was a good match from us,” said Quapp. “We were much better than that [pre-tournament] match against Slovakia [4-0 loss Thursday]. I think we had good breakouts, we had no real problems getting out of the zone. I think that’s what we can build on. “

Helenius cut through the fold to redirect a Lambert’s scoring shot at 12:52 of the first period and made it 1-0.

Munzenberger once brought a rolling puck past Merilainen for a power-play goal to make the match 1-1 at 3:27 in the second.

Maatta scored from the return a shot off Aleksei Heimosalmi (Carolina Hurricanes) for Finland’s lead 2-1 at 7:38 after others.

Helenius drove to the net and tipped a Lambert’s center pass to make it 3-1 at 7:53 of the third.

Finland will next play Austria on Monday (14:00 ET). Germany play against the Czech Republic on Monday (19:00 ET).

Sweden 6, Russia 3 – Emil Andrae (Philadelphia Flyers), Alexander Holtz (New Jersey Devils) and Simon Edvinsson (Detroit Red Wings) each had a goal and an assist in the first game of Group B, at the WP Centrium in Red Deer.

Oskar Olausson (Colorado Avalanche), Theodor Niederbach (Red Wings) and Daniel Ljungman (Dallas Stars) also scored for Sweden. Jesper Wallstedt (Minnesota Wild) made 27 saves.

Matvei Michkov, a top prospect for the 2023 NHL Draft, scored two goals for Russia, and Fedor Svechkov(Nashville Predators) scored. Yegor Guskov (2022 draft eligible) made five saves. He replaced Iaroslav Askarov (Predators), who made 13 saves on 16 shots in two periods.

Olausson scored a power-play goal and made it 1-0 at 5:24 of the first period.

Edvinsson scored on a shorthanded break and scored 2-0 at 7:39 by the other, and Andrae scored on a two-man advantage to give Sweden a 3-0 lead at 14:16.

Svechkov made it 3-1 at 16:28 of the second, but Holtz made it 4-1 with a 5-on-3 goal at 3:26 of the third.

Michkov beat Russia 4-3 with two goals in 41 seconds in the third. He was credited with a goal 4:45 after a replay review showed that his shot went past Wallstedt, and his backhand from the corner went off Sweden’s stick. William Eklund (San Jose Sharks) and over Wallstedt’s shoulder at 5:26.

Niederbach scored 5-3 at 11:37 and Ljungman added an empty goal with 50 seconds left.

Sweden will next meet Slovakia on Monday (21:30 ET). Russia plays Switzerland on Monday (16:30 ET).

Quick links

World Championships for juniors

Group A preview

Group B preview

World Cup lists for juniors

Tournament schedule

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