91Ô­´´

Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

WJC pre-tournament roundup: McKenna scores twice as Canada clips Czechia 3-2

OTTAWA — Gavin McKenna's second goal of the game, scored at 17:31 of the third period, snapped a 2-2 tie and lifted Canada to a 3-2 exhibition win over Czechia at the 91Ô­´´ Tire Centre.

OTTAWA — Gavin McKenna's second goal of the game, scored at 17:31 of the third period, snapped a 2-2 tie and lifted Canada to a 3-2 exhibition win over Czechia at the 91Ô­´´ Tire Centre.

Bradly Nadeau also scored for Canada and Matthew Schaefer chipped in with two assists as the World Junior Championship hosts finished pre-tournament play with a 3-0 record.

Dominik Petr and Jiri Felcman scored for Czechia, which was outshot 39-23 but got a superb game from goaltender Michael Hrabel.

Canada's first game in the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship is on Boxing Day against Finland, followed by a Friday game against Latvia. Czechia will face Switzerland in its tournament opener on Thursday, then play Kazakhstan on Saturday.

Elsewhere in pre-tournament play on Monday:

---

UNITED STATES 5 FINLAND 2

CORNWALL, Ont. — The United States broke open a close game with four goals in the second period and coasted to a 5-2 win over Finland at Cornwall Civic Complex.

Ryan Leonard, Joe Willis, Zeev Buium, Austin Burnevik and Carey Terrance scored for the Americans, who went 1-for-2 on the power play.

Kasper Halttunen scored both goals for Finland which went 1-for-3 on the power play.

The U.S. outshot Finland 30-18

---

SWEDEN 11 GERMANY 1

BELLEVILLE, Ont. — Victor Eklund and David Edstrom each scored twice as Sweden whipped Germany 11-1 at CAA Arena.

Rasmus Bergqvist, Herman Traff, Tom Willander, Wilhelm Hallquisth, Felix Unger Sorum, Otto Stenberg and Felix Nilsson also scored for the Swedes, who outshot Germany 43-17, and led 2-0 after the first period and 6-1 heading into the third.

Oskar Vuollet, Theo Lindstein and Nilsson all chipped in with two assists for Sweden.

Sweden went 4-for-6 on the power play.

Carlos Handel scored for Germany, which went 0-for-3 on the power play.

---

SWITZERLAND 5 LATVIA 1

ARNPRIOR, Ont. — After a scoreless first period, Switzerland scored three unanswered goals in the second and then coasted to a 5-1 win over Latvia at the Nick Smith Centre.

Ludvig Johnson, Jan Dorthe, Basile Sansonnens, Lars Steiner and Jamiro Reber scored for the Swiss, who outshot Latvia 43-27.

Olivers Murnieks scored for Latvia, which went 0-for-7 on the power play. Switzerland went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

This report by The 91Ô­´´ Press was first published Dec. 23, 2024.

The 91Ô­´´ Press