2019 WJC Day 2 Takeaways: Team Canada passes first test

Canada's Jared McIsaac, from left to right, Shane Bowers, MacKenzie Entwistle, back right, and Jack Studnicka celebrate Entwistle's goal. (Darryl Dyck/CP)

Canada faced its first test a little earlier than expected as a feisty Swiss team gave them a run for their money until the very end, while draft eligible Kaapo Kakko continues to shine for Finland. In a four-game second day of action at the WJC, here are some of our takeaways:

WHAT WILL SET THIS RUSSIAN TEAM APART?

It’s hard to believe, but Team Russia hasn’t won gold at the WJC since 2011, although last year was the first time they hadn’t at least medalled in that time. And coming into their opener on Thursday night, most expected them to blow away a Denmark team that was trounced 14-0 by Canada and exhausted from chasing the puck around all night less than 24 hours earlier.

It didn’t quite go that way, though, as the Danes earned a lot of respect for how they bounced back. Had their 0-for-8 power play been more effective, this could have been a potential upset.

The Russians didn’t look like gold medal contenders, but they are historically slow starters in this tournament. In four of the past five WJCs they’ve finished the preliminary round third in their pool, dropping both games to the other two big nations in their draws each time. Even going all the way back to their last gold medal win, the Russians were outscored 8-3 by Canada and Sweden in their first two games, but recovered to beat them both in the semifinal and final that year.

So while it wasn’t the strongest of starts, expect the best is still to come for Russia.

If they’re going to contend again, some of the players they’ll need to rely on showed up against Denmark. New York Rangers first-rounder Vitali Kravtsov, the KHL’s highest-scoring under-20 player, got the first goal of the game with Grigori Denisenko (15th overall to Florida in 2018) and Klim Kostin (31st overall to St. Louis in 2017) getting assists. Before the tournament is out, you’ll hear a lot more from that line.

And Alexander Romanov, a second-round pick by Montreal in 2018, showed off his offensive skills with a goal and two assists.

A bit of a surprise pick where the Habs nabbed him, Romanov doesn’t have any points in 28 KHL games this season, but is used sparingly by CSKA Moscow. He won’t be the biggest minute eater for the Russians, but a solid member of the top four who could be a key on the power play.

But the trend of improving through the tournament needs to continue this year for Russia, or else they risk going medal-less two years in a row for the first time ever. The Czechs will force them to raise their level on Friday.

THE SWISS ARE OLDER, WISER AND GAVE CANADA ITS FIRST SCARE

Last year’s Swiss roster was a rather young one, which made it hard to compete as a potential upset team against older, deeper lineups. The 2018 Swiss team was outscored 18-7 in the preliminary round by Sweden, Czech Republic and Russia, and when they had to face Canada in the quarterfinal, coach Christian Wohlwend made some remarks that caught attention for his honesty.

“They’re faster, they’re bigger, they’re stronger, they can shoot better, they can pass better,” Wohlwend said. “They can do everything better.”

The Swiss lost that game 8-2.

This year that tune was different. Sure, Canada still has greater depth and high-end talent, but this collection of Swiss players are in a better place, and more likely to pull off an upset.

“One year ago we had 14 underagers, they are all one year bigger and stronger,” he said Thursday. “Now we are bigger and stronger and faster and everything. And that’s why we can compete and that’s crazy. That’s crazy. We have 16,000 juniors.

“Ninety-nine per cent for every tournament [is] the chance that Canada has to win a medal. Ninety-nine per cent. And I heard that is pressure, that’s not pressure. You have 99 per-cent chance to win a medal every tournament? That would be a very comfortable situation.”

Outside of a second period in which Canada outshot them 16-8 and outscored them 2-1, Switzerland followed up their tight pre-tournament battle against Canada with another close call. Two goals by Philip Kurashev (120th-overall pick by Chicago in 2018) kept the Swiss in it until the very end when they had a couple of offensive zone draws to try and tie it, ultimately falling short in a thrilling 3-2 loss that could have gone their way with a couple lucky bounces.

The good news for Canada was they passed their first real test. Rather than settle in comfortably following a 14-0 opening night win and catch some bad habits, the Canadians pulled through and took charge when they needed to. The two power-play goals they allowed, though, served as a reminder to avoid getting too chippy and taking too many penalties, which has been a problem in the past.

Through two games Canada has taken nine penalties and they still haven’t played against the best power plays they’ll see this tournament. They have a day off before playing the Czechs Saturday night, who needed overtime to beat Switzerland.

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THE SWEDES ALWAYS HAVE A WEAPON

Sweden is making this winning streak thing look way too easy.

A day after Golden Knights prospect Erik Brannstrom led Sweden to a win with a two-goal effort (he scored another Thursday), centre Emil Bemstrom stepped up to score twice for Sweden in an easier 5-2 win over Slovakia. It extended their WJC winning streak in preliminary round games to 46 in a row.

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A fourth-round pick by Columbus in 2017, Bemstrom is the highest-scoring under-20 player in Sweden’s top professional league with 16 points in 23 games, and is now one of three non-Canadian players with at least two goals in this tournament. He has the third-most shots so far with 10 through two games.

Sweden’s top line hasn’t completely woken up yet — though centre Isac Lundestrom (23rd overall to Anaheim in 2018) does have three points — but their depth is always a strength. In Game 1 most of the threat came from the back end, which is stocked full of puck-moving talent, but Thursday they showed off some of the options they have up front, too.

The Swedes move to 2-0 in the tournament and have the best power play going so far, running at 36.36 per cent. Sweden’s defence held Finland’s offence in check on Wednesday, notably keeping their top weapons silent, and held the Slovaks to just 22 shots Thursday. They have a day off before they face Jack Hughes and Team USA on Saturday, who will be the biggest challenge to Sweden’s winning streak in this tournament.

DRAFT ELIGIBLE KAAPO KAKKO SHOWING STRONG IN TWO GAMES

Even though Kaapo Kakko is the projected No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, there were other, older forwards counted on to carry the load for this year’s Finland team.

Eeli Tolvanen was loaned from Nashville after he saw four games of NHL action. Rasmus Kupari (20th overall to Kings in 2018) and Aleksi Heponiemi (40th to Florida in 2017) are two of the top four scorers on Karpat, the first-place team in Liiga. They’re also the top two scoring under-20 players in the country’s highest league.

The third-highest junior scorer in the Liiga is draft-eligible Kakko, who is currently scoring at a .74 point-per-game pace that is slightly better than what Patrik Laine finished with in his draft year. But 17-year-olds tend to have a harder time excelling in a tournament like this.

After shining in Game 1 versus Sweden, Kakko was one of the best players on the ice for Finland again Thursday against Kazakhstan. After recording an assist and five shots in the opener, Kakko scored the fourth goal for Finland in a lopsided 5-0 win. Heponiemi and Kupari got their first points of the tournament on the fifth goal, but Kakko has looked more like one of the offensive go-to options on this team.

Kakko is tied with Canada’s Owen Tippett for the most shots on goal in the tournament with 13 through two games.

It can be hard to watch one-sided games like these, but Kazakhstan goalie Demid Yeremeyev kept it entertaining throughout with some tremendous saves along the way. The Finns took 56 shots and he saved 51 of them for a respectable .910 save percentage. The crowd certainly appreciated it — they gave him a standing ovation late in the game during a commercial break, and again when he was rewarded as his team’s player of the game.

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