Flames at World Juniors Day 3: competitive games galore

On the third day of World Junior round robin play in the Edmonton bubble, three Calgary Flames prospects were involved in tight-checking games. Two won, one lost.

Canada maintained their lead in Group A with their second win in as many days, though Slovakia made them work for it.

Due to an injury to Dylan Holloway, Canada’s forward lines were shuffled and Jakob Pelletier and Connor Zary ended up on the same line – Kings prospect Quinton Byfield was their centre. They ended up being one of Canada’s best trios, constantly noticeable in the offensive zone and generally playing smart, energetic hockey.

Stats-wise: Pelletier was even in 14:52 (with two shots) while Zary was even in 12:45 (with one shot).

Canada (2-0) is back in action on Tuesday against Switzerland (0-2).

In a bit of an upset, the Czechs got good goaltending and kept Russia to the outside. Russia seemed content to miss the net and not change their perimeter strategy, allowing the Czechs to eke out a 2-0 victory.

Yan Kuznetsov was rock solid again for Russia, but was on for a goal against after his defensive partner turned the puck over at the offensive blueline via a shot block (and the Czechs scored on a breakaway going the other way.)

Stats-wise, Kuznetsov was minus-1 with three shots in 16:25 of ice time.

Russia (1-1) is back in action on Tuesday against Austria (0-1).