Tomas Jurco and Team Slovakia opened up the World Junior Hockey Championships in dramatic fashion with a 2-1 overtime win against the Germans last night.
Moncton Wildcats forward Marek Hrivik scored at 3:39 of the extra session on the power play to give Slovakia a win in their first contest of the tournament. After falling to Switzerland on Monday, Germany is now 0-2.
Richard Panik opened the scoring eight seconds into the second period to give Slovakia a 1-0 lead. Germany would tie the affair at 16:46 thanks to a Norman Hauner goal, a marker that would eventually force overtime.
Slovakian goaltender Dominik Riecicky was solid, making 47 saves in net to earn the victory. German netminder Philipp Grubauer picked up the loss after stopping 37 shots.
Jurco had a quiet game for Slovakia. He recorded two shots on goal, no points, no penalty minutes, and a zero rating. The game was not available on television or webcast, but eye witnesses of the match tweeted that he didn’t do a whole lot.
“Haven't noticed much from SJ Sea Dogs' Tomas Jurco, except for when he lost 3 1-on-1 battles in a row on one shift in first,” wrote Yahoo! Sports’ Neate Sager in the first period.
“Had nice postgame interview w/ Jurco- didn't see much time tonight but played well from what I saw,” tweeted Kirk Luedeke of the New England Hockey Journal and Bruins Draft Watch.
QUICK HITS
The Buffalo News’ live blog replay of the Slovakia – Germany game. [Buffalo News]
The Down Goes Brown guide to the world juniors. [National Post]
Looking to get some tickets for the 2012 world juniors in Calgary/Edmonton? Good luck with that. [Toronto Star]
Emerson Etem, a member of the USA squad, isn't a fan of the city of Buffalo. [SB Nation]
Don’t even think about having a beard on Team Canada. [National Post]
Solid preview for today's Canada game. [Rogers Sportsnet]
THE SHIFT
On the penalty kill in Monday’s game against Russia, Casey Cizikas became a Canadian hero for a few moments.
Team Canada hits the ice again today for the second time in the 2011 edition of the world juniors. Canada is coming off a hard fought 6-3 victory over the Russians while the Czech Republic is coming off a 2-0 win over Norway.
Puck drop is 5pm AST at HSBC Arena. TSN’s coverage begins at 4:30pm with the pre-game show.
Acadie-Bathurst Titan goaltender Olivier Roy was average in Canada’s opening match. He is expected to start in goal tonight and will look to improve on his play.
Canada is led offensively by Jaden Schwartz and Brayden Schenn who each have two points. Antonin Honejsek leads the way for the Czechs with two points.
The Czechs feature a few players from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, including Halifax Mooseheads rookie forward Martin Frk.
At 9pm tonight, Tomas Jurco and the Slovaks face a big test at HSBC Arena when they take on Team USA. The Americans are coming off a 3-2 overtime victory against Finland on Monday.
Other matches today include Switzerland taking on Finland and Russia facing Sweden.
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