Wallstedt, Koivunen excellent on second day of World Juniors
There’s a trend emerging at the World Juniors. And it has a Finnish flavor.
It was Finland — for a second straight day — that impressed at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, walking through an opponent with a similar cast of characters standing out.
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Finland, expectedly, bested Austria 7-1 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, with the trio of Brad Lambert, Ville Koivunen, and Samuel Helenius leading the way. Lambert had three points, including his first goal of the tournament, and Koivunen had three points (two goals, one assist). Helenius scored twice in the win to push his tournament lead to four.
It was Germany, also in Edmonton, upended Czechia on the strength of a 39-save performance from Florian Bugl in a 2-1 overtime win.
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Russia doubled-up on Switzerland 4-2 at WP Centrium in Red Deer, and it was 2023 NHL Draft eligible Matvei Michkov finding the scoresheet again with his third of the tournament. Sweden was backstopped in a big way by Minnesota Wild prospect Jesper Wallstedt, helping his country to a 3-0 win against Slovakia in Red Deer with an incredible 48-save shutout.
Here’s who stood out on the first day of the World Juniors:
Three stars of the day
Third star: Brad Lambert (FIN)
How about an encore? Brad Lambert was named our second star for the opening day of the tournament after a pair of helpers. He followed it up with a three-point effort — including his first goal of the tournament — in Finland’s shellacking of Austria. Lambert, No. 8 in FCHockey’s Winter ranking for the 2022 NHL Draft, now has five points (one goal, four assists) in just two games to pace the tournament in scoring.
Bad giveaway leads to an easy goal for Lambert pic.twitter.com/iEjj5QCAdx
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 27, 2021
Second star: Ville Koivunen (FIN)
Ville Koivunen was buzzing in Finland’s win against Austria, scoring twice and adding a helper for a three-point performance. His first came on a nifty setup by Lambert, but it’ll be his second one that stands out even more — and it might be one of the better ones when the tournament is all said and done. Koivunen, selected in the second round (No. 51) of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes, is up to four points (two goals, two assists) in two games.
Ville Koivunen (#LetsGoCanes) strikes again. #WorldJuniorshttps://t.co/Aq2cAGijib
📺: @TSN_Sports pic.twitter.com/050pQ8xR2y
— Aaron Vickers (@AAVickers) December 27, 2021
First star: Jesper Wallstedt (SWE)
Yes, it’s early. But Jesper Wallstedt had himself the best game a goaltender has turned in through the first eight games at the World Juniors. Wallstedt, selected in the first round (No. 20) in the 2021 NHL Draft, kicked aside 48 shots to help Sweden to a 3-0 shutout win over the surprising, upstarts Slovakia squad. He’s now won his first two starts after making 24 saves in a 6-3 win against Russia on Sunday. Five saves came shorthanded midway through the third period on a match penalty to Leo Loof midway through the third period that also included a 1:10 5-on-3 opportunity that was converted into a 6-on-3 with Slovakia’s net empty.
Seems about right. Jesper Wallstedt (#mnwild) again. #WorldJuniors https://t.co/0MrsCLP081
📺: @TSN_Sports pic.twitter.com/ydeYw5fCNi
— Aaron Vickers (@AAVickers) December 28, 2021
Honorable mentions: Florian Bugl (DEU), Marco Kasper (AUT), Samuel Helenius (FIN), Alexander Blank (DEU)
Highlight of the night
Alexander Blank took matters into his own hands. Tied 1-1 in overtime, he lifted Germany to a surprising victory over Czechia with this end-to-ender, capped beautifully by a short-side snipe over Detroit Red Wings prospect Jan Bednar to net his country a pair of points. The play started below his own goal line, and essentially ended at the other.
This is a snipe by Alexander Blank (#NHLDraft). But a bad angle to give up a goal by Jan Bednar (#LGRW). OT win for Germany. #WorldJuniors https://t.co/PLq5wL1774
📺: @TSN_Sports pic.twitter.com/OniH4cojxV
— Aaron Vickers (@AAVickers) December 28, 2021
Leaderboard
| RNK | NAME | POS | COUNTRY | TEAM | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 1 | Brad Lambert | F | FIN | 2022 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| 2 | Samuel Helenius | F | FIN | LAK | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | Ville Koivunen | F | FIN | CAR | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 4 | Owen Power | D | CAN | BUF | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | Matvei Michkov | F | RUS | 2023 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 6 | Alexander Blank | F | GER | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
| 7 | Simon Edvinsson | D | SWE | DET | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 7 | Joel Maatta | F | FIN | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 9 | Cole Perfetti | F | CAN | WPG | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 10 | William Eklund | F | SWE | SJS | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 10 | Helge Grans | D | SWE | LAK | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
FCHockey’s Three Stars
December 27: First: Jesper Wallstedt (SWE); Second: Ville Koivunen (FIN); Third: Brad Lambert (FIN).
December 26: First: Owen Power (CAN); Second: Brad Lambert (FIN); Third: Matvei Michkov (RUS).