Welcome to the 2021 World Junior Championship predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey will take a look at each game and give our predictions of the results. Sunday, December 27th is Day Three of the tournament and features Canada vs Slovakia.
2021 World Junior Championship Predictions
Canada vs Slovakia
Like a lot of these early tournament matchups, this game seems to be a large mismatch. The behemoth that is Team Canada will be taking on Team Slovakia. This could be one of the more lopsided games of the tournament, but that also opens the door to one of the biggest upsets of the 2021 World Junior Championships. It will be intriguing to see what occurs during the game.
Canada
Canada has a strong roster, even without captain Kirby Dach. This was proven in the monstrous game they had against Germany on the 26th. Forwards like Dawson Mercer, Peyton Krebs, Phillip Tomasino and Dylan Cozens all had an incredible offensive game in the first game of the tournament. Many other pieces of Canada’s forward group were able to contribute to the victory. Players up and down the lineup showing that they deserve to be at this tournament. The depth that Canada was able to show through their first game should have Slovakia at the drawing board coming up with a plan on how to shut them down. If Slovakia allows the Canadian forwards to get going then there could be no stopping them.
We got to see the strong defence group shine. A Player like Kaiden Guhle got to show off his skills, contributing offensively as well as holding the German team to minimal shots. Similarly, Jamie Drysdale and Bowen Byram were able to add to the offence. The strength of the Canadian roster is the ability to generate offence from anywhere in the lineup, and this is something Slovakia will have to be acutely aware of going into their game against Canada.
Canada’s goaltending wasn’t tested much in the game against Germany. However, Devon Levi and Dylan Garand are both strong goaltenders, both drafted to NHL teams. Should the competition begin to turn up, surely Canada will be able to lean on them. Both had very strong 2019-20 seasons in their respective leagues and should have no issue making saves when it comes down to it.
Slovakia
While Canada was able to claim a victory in game one, so did Team Slovakia. In the first game against Team Switzerland, they were able to claim victory with a score of 1-0. Roman Faith was able to post the lone goal for Team Slovakia, however, many more players got good chances. Youngster Juraj Slafkovsky was able to generate four shots for Slovakia throughout the game. Team Slovakia will need to see more from Martin Chromiak on offence to be able to get anywhere. The teams’ offensive prowess seems to be considerably lacking when compared to others in this tournament. If Slovakia is to hope to win the game against Canada, they will have to slow play the game and wear Canada down. If they allow for a high flying, offensive game to occur, they could suffer a similar fate to Germany.
Defensive play will be key for Slovakia. Similar to what was said before, slowing down the game and playing a structured defensive game. This will allow for their goaltender to succeed. Simon Latkoczy was a large part of their game one victory over Switzerland, stopping every shot he faced for the shutout. Slovakia will need to have Latkoczy play in a similar manner for them to contend with Canada. The Slovakian roster has an uphill battle. While victory is not impossible, they need to play with lots of structure and for key players to be at the top of their game and have things break their way.
Prediction
Canada has the clear upper hand in this matchup, coming off an incredible victory against Germany. Slovakia has a tough battle ahead of them, but it is doable if they play a structured, slow-paced, defensive game to shut down the massive threat that is Canada’s offence. It will come down to who is more prepared. Canada could easily get overconfident and Slovakia will be planning thoroughly after witnessing the Germany game.
Prediction: Canada wins 6-1.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
