Top standouts from Canada vs. Latvia at 2024 World Junior Championship
Canada has improved to 2-0 at the world juniors after beating Latvia 10-0 to close out the second day of play in Sweden.
Top 2024 NHL Draft prospect Macklin Celebrini stole the show with a goal and three assists, giving him the Canadian scoring lead. Conor Geekie, Brayden Yager and Carson Rehkopf all benefited from Celebrini, while Owen Allard tipped in a shot from Matthew Wood to score his second of the tournament. Geekie and Rehkopf both scored second goals, while Wood, Matthew Poitras and Fraser Minten both added markers of their own.
Canadian goaltender Mathis Rousseau recorded a 22-save shutout, marking his second tournament win.
Canada will get Thursday off to get some rest before a big game against Sweden on Friday at 1:30 PM ET in a game that could decide who wins the Group A title. Latvia will also get tomorrow off before looking to bounce back against Finland at 8:30 AM ET.
Here’s a look at the top performers from Canada’s victory on Wednesday:
Canada
#17 Macklin Celebrini, C (2024 NHL Draft): A two-assist first period? Another helper early in the second? How about a fourth assist and a goal to make it five points? Just another day for Canada’s next young star. He’s so dynamic, using his skating to blow past defenders on both chances to create goals for Geekie and Yager. Even when he makes a mistake and gets to the wrong player, like in Yager’s case, he finds to make it look good.
#28 Conor Geekie, C (Arizona Coyotes): Geekie scored the first and the eighth goals for Canada while brining his usual physicality and speed. These are the type of dominating performances to expect from Geekie at this tournament. Simple. As. That.
#20 Carson Rehkopf, LW (Seattle Kraken): After starting the tournament as the 13th forward, Rehkopf was promoted to the fourth line today and thrived. The OHL star scored a beautiful goal after making a quick move on a Latvian defender before tucking it in past the right leg of Latvian keeper Linards Feldbergs, and then scored the ninth goal for good measure.
#22 Jordan Dumais, RW (Columbus Blue Jackets): He’s looking a little snakebitten right now, but Dumais had a great showing today. The 5-foot-9 winger had three shots in the first period, but played a lot more physically in the second period, displaying a bit more spice to his game. Despite struggling to produce, he looked really good for Canada.
#21 Owen Allard, LW (Undrafted): Yet another great game from the only undrafted skater on Canada. He blocked shots, killed penalties but then also scored on the power play after tipping in Matthew Wood’s shot. Allard has consistently been one of Canada’s best players since coming together for camp in Oakville earlier this month, and it feels like a no-brainer that he’ll get drafted next June.
#18 Matthew Wood, LW (Nashville Predators): Wood was the 13th forward today, allowing him to be used more on the second power play while also focusing more on a shooting role given his average skating on big ice. It paid off, with his shot getting tipped off Allard early in the third to make it a 3-0 contest. He then scored on his fifth shot of the game, making it 7-0. Wood is more of a specialist at a tournament like this, but he fits it well.
#23 Ty Nelson, D (Seattle Kraken): Nelson’s jetlag is completely gone, and now the latest addition to the roster looks like himself again. He landed a big hip check that ended up getting reviewed for kneeing (and was reversed) and then helped start scoring chances from the point. Nelson is a stout offensive defenseman that, had it not been for Tanner Molendyk’s strong last game in camp, would have likely made the team initially. Nelson’s two assists today had to feel vindicating.
Latvia
#22 Sandis Vilmanis, RW (Florida Panthers): Vilmanis was one of the few Latvians that seemed to be actively trying to score today. He had four shots, landed some hits and was busy in his own zone. He did just about everything possible for a player on a team getting shelled to stand out.
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