Oskar Magnusson and Sweden defeat Haakon Hanelt and Germany
Last night, two Washington Capitals prospects went head-to-head last night in the final game of the preliminary round of the World Juniors in Edmonton. The game featured Oskar Magnusson and Team Sweden and Haakon Hanelt from Team Germany.
In the first period, Magnusson made an immediate impact and scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal. He used his speed and broke away from the defense before firing a wrist shot past Nikita Quapp to make it 3-1 for Team Sweden.
It was Magnusson’s first goal of the tournament and it was their second goal in under two minutes. It was also his second point.
Magnusson played on the fourth line against Germany and has mainly been in that role throughout the World Juniors so far. He was even moved up to the top line in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Team USA.
Hanelt has skated on the third line for Germany in the tournament. He scored a goal in his last match against Switzerland on Friday. That goal would also prove to be the match-winner and it sent Germany into the quarter-finals.
Hanelt and Magnusson are the only two Capitals prospects competing in the tournament after participating in last month’s Capitals Development Camp at MedStar Capitals Iceplex and prospect scrimmage at Capital One Arena.
Magnusson was subsequently named Sweden’s player, while Hanelt finished the competition with a plus one plus minus rating and two shots on goal for Germany.
The World Juniors quarterfinals begin on Wednesday as Hanelt and Germany face Finland at 12 PM ET while Magnusson and Sweden play Latvia at 3:30 PM ET for a chance to advance to the semifinals.
You can check out these two future Caps stars on Wednesday as both games air on the NHL Network.