2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship quarter-final preview
The quarter-finals at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship are set to get underway on Wednesday from Rogers Place in Edmonton.
It'll be an action-packed day of hockey with over twelve hours of coverage on TSN beginning with the first game at 12 p.m. ET between Finland and Germany. The second game, featuring Sweden and Latvia will get underway at 3:30 p.m. ET, while Canada and Switzerland will battle at 7 p.m. ET before the United States and Czechia wrap-up quarter-final Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. ET.
(A2) Finland vs (B3) Germany - 12 p.m. ET/10 a.m. local.
Finland comes into Wednesday's quarter-final against Germany looking to rebound following a 6-3 loss to Canada on the final day of the preliminary round. The Finns are favoured at -2000 by TSN Edge, but they will have their hands full with a stingy German team that has allowed the same amount of goals (13) as them. There aren't any household names on Germany, but Alexander Blank and Edmonton Oilers prospect Luca Munzenberger will be key players to watch if an upset is to occur.
Despite allowing five goals on Monday, it's expected that Finland will turn to Ottawa Senators prospect Leevi Merilainen in between the pipes. In three games, Merilainen sports a 2-0-0-1 record along with a 2.93 GAA and an .890 save percentage.
Nashville Predators prospect Joakim Kemell and New York Islander prospect Aatu Raty have been the driving forces of Finland's offense in the tournament. The duo sit tied for second in points with nine and have combined for six of Finland's 22 goals in the preliminary round.
Players to watch
Finland: Kasper Simontaival
Germany: Alexander Blank
(B2) Sweden vs (A3) Latvia - 3:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. local.
Latvia shocked the hockey world with an historic win and upset over Czechia on Monday afternoon. With their win, they finished third in Group A ahead of Czechia and Slovakia, qualifying for the playoff round for the first time ever at the World Juniors.
Captain Ralfs Bergmanis has played a huge role all tournament long to get Latvia to this point. He's averaging well over 20 minutes played per game and scored a hat-trick in that crucial win over Czechia. Goaltender Bruno Bruveris has also been solid for the Latvians. Bruveris has a 1-0-1-1 record in three games at the tournament, along with a 3.24 GAA and a .913 save percentage. If Latvia is going to have any chance in tomorrow's game, Bruveris will need to hold down the fort, as Sweden will come out of the gate strong.
TSN Edge has Sweden as favourites to win Wednesday's tilt at -3000 and rightfully so. Other than than the first two periods against the United States on Sunday, Sweden has looked like one of the better teams in the tournament, with an unexpected name leading them in points.
Captain Emil Andrae has been solid on the blue line for the Swedes, recording seven points in four games. In their four preliminary round games, Sweden has only managed to score fifteen goals. They'll need the offense to pick it up a bit in the playoff round as they chase a gold medal.
In goal, Sweden has options, but they'll turn to Minnesota Wild prospect Jesper Wallstedt, after giving Calle Clang the start against Germany on Monday night. Wallstedt and Clang split the four starts in the preliminary round, with both netminder proving capable of backstopping Sweden to their first gold medal at the World Juniors in a decade.
Players to watch
Sweden: Simon Edvinsson
Latvia: Ralf Bergmanis
(A1) Canada vs (B4) Switzerland - 7 p.m. ET/5 p.m. local.
Canada's lethal offense will have another opportunity to produce in big numbers on Wednesday as they take on a Swiss team that's only win of the tournament, so far, has come against Austria.
Captain Mason McTavish leads the way for Canada, currently sitting first in points in the tournament with thirteen in four games. His line mate and projected 2023 first overall pick Connor Bedard isn't too far behind, sitting at seven points. Ottawa Senators prospect Ridley Greig and New York Rangers prospect Brennan Othmann, who was injected into the first line mid-way through the preliminary round, currently sit at six points each.
On the blueline for Canada, Anaheim Ducks prospect Olen Zellweger has been a force to be reckoned with. Each game, Zellweger has looked better and better, he'll play a massive role in the playoff round for Canada as they look to win gold for the first time since 2020.
New York Rangers prospect Dylan Garand, who's started three of Canada's four games thus far, will be between the pipes. Garand has a record of 3-0-0-0 with a 1.67 GAA and a .926 save percentage going into Wednesday's game.
As for the Swiss, they're in tough, there's no beating around the bush. Captain and Nashville Predators prospect Simon Knak is the key player to watch for Switzerland. Knak, as well as Attilio Biasca, will need to be on their game as soon as the puck drops at 7 p.m. ET.
Canada is favoured by TSN edge at -50000 and it's hard to imagine a scenario where Switzerland doesn't get blown out or potentially winning the game.
Players to watch
Canada: Ridly Greig
Switzerland: Attilio Biasca
(B1) United States vs (A4) Czechia
The final game of quarter-final Wednesday will see the United States and their formidable defensive group take on Jan Mysak and a Czechia squad that's been fairly underwhelming so far.
The Americans come into Wednesday's game only allowing four goals in four games. One of the biggest question marks for the United States ahead of the tournament was their goaltending, especially without Drew Commesso. Despite that, Kaiden Mbereko has been incredible and is probably the favourite to win 'Best Goaltender'. In his four appearances, Mbereko has stopped 61 of 65 shots, allowing the Americans to clinch top spot in Group B with a 4-0-0-0 record.
TSN Edge has the United States as -1250 favourites for the game, but they shouldn't have much trouble against Czechia. Detroit Red Wings prospect Jan Bednar hasn't been very good at all in net and aside from Montreal Canadiens prospect Jan Mysak, Czechia's offense has been non-existent, only scoring eleven goals in four games.
Czechia will need a much better performance from Jan Bednar, as well as David Jiricek and Jiri Kulich to show up, in order to have a shot at taking down a very strong American team.
Players to watch
United States: Luke Hughes
Czechia: Jan Mysak
Stay tuned to Markerzone.com tomorrow and for the remainder of the tournament for game recaps for every playoff round match-up!
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||