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World Juniors 2017: Canada vs. Latvia, Toronto, Thursday, Dec. 29

Canada hopes to continue its winning streak while Latvia searches for its first win.

Denmark vs. Czech Republic

Time: 1:00 PM Eastern

Location: Bell Centre, Montreal

Streaming: TSN 1/3/4/5  Listen: Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Ch. 91

Russia vs. United States

Time: 3:30 PM Eastern

Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto

Streaming: NHL Network, TSN 1/3/4/5  Listen: Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Ch. 91

Finland vs. Sweden

Time: 5:30 PM Eastern

Location: Bell Centre, Montreal

Streaming: NHL Network, TSN 2 Listen: Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Ch. 91

Canada vs. Latvia

Time: 8:00 PM Eastern

Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto

Streaming: NHL Network, TSN 1/4 Listen: Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Ch. 91

Recap: Canada vs. Slovakia

Two nights ago, Canada played the second half of a back-to-back against a Slovakian team playing its first game of the tournament.

The match-up was dominated by the Canadians who routed the Slovaks in a 5-0 victory.  It was a complete effort by Team Canada, who allowed only six shots against while generating 44 shots of their own.

It’s a testament to the strength of Team Slovakia’s goaltender Adam Huska that the game remained scoreless at the end of the first period. The Canadians broke through with four goals in the second period and never looked back.

Five Lightning prospects suited up for the host country, delivering strong performances across the board. Taylor Raddysh and Anthony Cirelli scored two quick goals in less than two minutes to push Canada’s lead from 1-0 to 3-0.

Mathieu Joseph continued to be a forceful presence on the ice, winning key puck battles and generating some momentum for the offense. Unfortunately, Mitchell Stephens took a hard hit in the second period and did not return to the game.

Goalie Connor Ingram was perfect for the six shots he faced.

All in all, in the words of Hockey Canada, it was a pretty rad performance.

Get it? Because Taylor Raddysh? Okay, so maybe it’s not a brilliant joke, but it’s awesome to see Hockey Canada tweet a picture of one of the most promising young Lightning prospects.

Preview: Canada vs. Latvia

Canada sits atop Group B with a 2-0 record while Latvia finds itself in the opposite situation, having dropped both of their first two games.

Team Canada will look to continue its dominant streak against a relatively weak opponent. Lightning prospect Mitchell Stephens is considered “questionable” for the game, per head coach Dominique Ducharme. Because Connor Ingram was perfect against the Slovaks, he has generated some momentum and is pushing for the starting goalie position. Ducharme stated yesterday that he had yet to make a decision on who would be in net for tonight’s game.

Latvia will look to secure its first win of the tournament. If they want to upset Canada, avoiding penalties will be crucial. Team Latvia leads the tournament with fifteen penalties, including a 10-minute major, for a total of 38 penalty minutes in two games.  Canada has the most potent power play in the tournament thus far, converting on five of its nine opportunities to score with the man advantage, so Latvia must stay out of the penalty box if they want to slow down Canada’s offense.

Team Canada

Forward Lines

Pierre-Luc Dubois - Dylan Strome - Mitchell Stephens* (questionable)

Mathieu Joseph* - Mathew Barzal - Taylor Raddysh*

Tyson Jost - Nicolas Roy - Julien Gauthier

Dillon Dubé - Anthony Cirelli* - Blake Speers

Michael McLeod

Defense Pairings

Thomas Chabot - Philippe Myers

Jake Bean - Noah Juulsen

Kale Clague - Dante Fabbro

Jeremy Lauzon

Goaltenders

Carter Hart

Connor Ingram

Team Latvia

Forward Lines

Rihards Puide - Roberts Baranovskis - Valters Apfelbaums

Eduards Tralmaks - Renars Krastenbergs - Erlends Klavins

Martins Dzierkals - Rudolfs Balcers - Filips Buncis

Roberts Blugers - Ricards Bernhards - Deniss Smirnovs

Defense Pairings

Maksims Ponomarenko - Kristaps Zile

Eduards Hugo Jansons - Gvido Jansons

Kristians Rubins - Karlis Cukste

Tomass Zeile - Rimants Zeilis

Goaltenders

Mareks Egils Mitens

Gustavs Davis Grigals

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