The Philadelphia Flyers are represented by four players across four different countries at the World Junior Championship this year in Buffalo. All four Flyers prospects were in action on Tuesday, day one of the tournament, and they came away with a mixed bag.
Czech Republic 5, Russia 4
German Rubtsov (RUS) – 2 assists, 1 shot, +2, 6-for-11 FO in 16:29 TOI
Rubtsov got off to a bit of a slow start on Tuesday, as did Russia, but they showed some life with a late comeback to make it a one-goal game. Russia had it tied up at 2 after one period of play, but three-straight goals in the 2nd and 3rd periods by the Czech Republic made it a 5-2 game.
Russia got one goal back with 2:12 remaining, as Rubtsov helped his team get into the zone and then got the puck back and took it around the net to set up a teammate in front.
That made it a 5-3 game, but they weren’t done there.
With their goalie pulled, Russia scored again. This time Rubtsov got a secondary assist, but he was crucial in getting his team setup in the zone and then went in front of the net to provide a screen a potential deflection.
Unfortunately for Russia, they couldn’t complete the comeback, but Rubtsov got himself on the scoreboard with two late assists.
Rubtsov was one of six players with two assists on the day, while one player had three assists. He is also among the leaders in plus-minus after one day of games, as he is tied for 11th with a +2 rating.
You can check out the highlights and more on Rubtsov’s opening game in our post from yesterday.
Russia will have a day off today before playing Switzerland on Thursday.
Sweden 6, Belarus 1
Linus Hogberg (SWE) – 7:46 TOI
Maksim Sushko (BLR) – 2 PIM in 19:39 TOI
The opening game for Sweden and Belarus went as expected, with the score being a bit lopsided in this one.
The Flyers prospects didn’t factor into any of the seven goals of the game, and were on opposite sides of the spectrum in terms of usage. Hogberg played a game-low 7:46 for Sweden, as Sushko played the most out of any Belarus forward with 19:39.
Maksim Sushko was named the captain of Team Belarus prior to the game, which is a great honor for the young forward.
Sweden will have a day off on Wednesday before taking on Czech Republic on Thursday, while Belarus will get right back at it on Wednesday against Switzerland.
Canada 4, Finland 2
Carter Hart (CAN) – Win, 29 saves on 31 shots
Carter Hart started out his second and final World Junior Championship tournament with a win.
He made 11 saves on 12 shots in the 1st period, 10 saves on 11 shots in the 2nd period, then stopped all 8 shots he faced in the 3rd period. He got some help from Cal Foote on the goal line, who made a fantastic lunging save.
Hart didn’t necessarily make any flashy saves, but that’s not the game he plays. He was very solid positionally, made the saves he could make, and played very solid overall.
Finland scored on a backdoor play to bury a loose puck, and a deflection on a power-play point shot. Otherwise they were turned away by Hart at every turn.
This was the first of what Canada hopes to be many wins for Hart, who will shoulder the load for the Canadians in Buffalo.
Canada will be back in action tonight against Slovakia.
Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday, December 27th
- 3:00 p.m. – Switzerland vs. Belarus
- 7:00 p.m. – Slovakia vs. Canada
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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