Men’s World Hockey Championship Recap: Montembeault, Tuch among standouts on Day 1

May 12, 2023, 16:09 EDT

And so it begins.

The 2023 World Hockey Championship kicked off in Latvia and Finland today, with Canada, United States, Sweden and Czechia all pulling off victories. USA had to come from behind to beat the Finns, erasing a 1-0 deficit to win 4-1. Czechia and Slovakia had the most wild fight, with the Czechs outscoring Slovakia 3-2 in the first period – a score that lasted until the final buzzer.

In the evening, Canada had no issue with the Latvians, scoring early and often. The Swedes had a bit more difficulty against Germany, scoring just once in a 1-0 win.

Canada shuts out Latvia 6-0

MacKenzie Weegar (CGY) came to play. His first shot attempt at 4:56 was tipped in by Scott Laughton, and then Weegar scored on the man advantage just before the halfway point of the first period. Weegar is the team’s No. 1 defenseman, and his World Championship debut was as smooth as you can ask for. He finished with three points for the best first game from a defender on the opening day.
The starting goalie gig could have gone any way, honestly, but Samuel Montembeault (MTL) looked up to the task. One of Montreal’s best players this year, he stopped all 23 shots sent his way in his tournament debut. Montembeault didn’t receive enough praise for his work with a bad Habs squad this year, but he has a chance to steal the spotlight in Riga.
Jack Quinn (BUF) played an excellent game, with the highlight being his behind-the-back pass to Weegar on Canada’s third goal. The Sabres forward seemed to love the bigger ice, getting creative with more room to work with. It’ll be interesting to see how often he’s used in this tournament.
Keeping things in the (Sabres) family, Peyton Krebs (BUF) gave the team some excellent firepower on the bottom line. Krebs was one of the better players in exhibition play and he and teammates Cody Glass and Lawson Crouse were flying.
I really enjoy watching Lawson Crouse (ARI) play. He deserves much more love for what he’s able to do in Arizona, where he had a career-high 24 goals and 45 points this year. This was his first World Championship game, and he earned the first goal on a good effort – even if the actual goal wasn’t anything great.

USA upsets Finland 4-1

Matt Coronato (CGY) looked to have his first goal with the men’s national team, only to have it taken away by a questionable goalie interference call. Regardless, he was excellent as USA’s fourth-line center, perhaps the best player not on the top line. He brought speed and skill to a group that included Cutter Gauthier and Sammy Walker. Even if he remains near the bottom of the lineup, expect a good tournament for Coronato, who was also excellent in the pre-tournament.
Speaking of pre-tournament play, how about the hot hand of Drew O’Connor (PIT)? He scored twice and added an assist against Germany to give him three points, which isn’t too shabby since he had just 11 in 46 NHL games this year. The NHL depth forward is playing with fire and it paid off with a three-point effort against the Finns. He was easily one of the most noticeable players for the Americans.
Alex Tuch (BUF) is the USA’s best forward and he started off strong with two goals and a team-leading 21:28 in ice time. He had six shots in the second period alone, and some of the plays he made with Rocco Grimaldi were highlight-reel in nature.
Kaapo Kaako (NYR) didn’t have a point, but he came close to scoring on a couple of occasions and had a generally good game on the second line. The Finns seemed unable to generate much around the net, but Kakko played as good of a game as we’ve seen out of him in a while. He’s one of just a handful of NHL-affiliated players on the Finns, so there are high hopes for him here.
In terms of non-NHL talent, Teemu Hartikainen and Sakari Manninen combined for Finland’s only goal and were two of the only forwards that really stood out. There was also defenseman Mikko Lehtonen, who led the team with five shots from the point.
Goaltending was going to be an important part of the game, and Casey DeSmith (PIT) delivered for the Americans. He stopped 23 shots, including some tough ones in close and a couple of other dangerous bounces. He’s the clear No. 1 for the Americans this year.

Czechia edges Slovakia after wild first period

That was an excellent game for Martin Chromiak (LAK), his first win the men’s national team. The 20-year-old scored early on the power play and had a couple of other good looks, giving Slovakia a fighting chance. Chromiak isn’t too high up on the Los Angeles Kings prospect rankings, but he had a solid rookie season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign and will play big minutes at this tournament.
Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Lukas Sedlak scored a shorthanded goal at 13:48 and then nabbed a power-play goal five minutes later, which proved to be the winning goal. It was the first two goals from the former Columbus Blue Jackets in what has been an otherwise unremarkable international career for him.
Dominik Kubalik (DET) set up the first Czech goal and the game-winner later on, both as primary assists. The skilled, yet inconsistent forward has a solid international resume and will be counted on all tournament long, but he’s fully capable of performing when needed internationally.

Sweden edges Germany

Jonatan Berggren (DET) stood out to me as someone who was bound to get on the board. He was flying around the ice, creating chance and forcing turnovers. He also played on the power play, where his shot was tipped a minute into the third by Oscar Lindberg for the 1-0 goal.
Oscar Lindberg scored the game’s lone goal on a tip, but he had five shots in the third period alone. That was the former NHLer’s first World Championship goal in a decade, having failed to score on in 2017 and 2021.
The goal against wasn’t great, but Mathias Niederberger still stopped 22 shots and looked great for an underpowered German team. He’s a mainstay with the national team and should be the starter the rest of the way.

2023 NHL Draft Outlook

It was a quiet game for Adam Fantilli (Canada) and Leo Carlsson (Sweden), who spent their respective games just trying to keep up with the pace. Fantilli was on the attack all game and probably deserved at least another assist for his efforts. Carlsson, meanwhile, had a bit more of a quiet game, but I thought he did a good job of making the Germans miserable on the rush, at the very least.

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