World Junior Hockey Championships 2016 Results: Wednesday Group Scores, Reaction
While perennial powers like Canada and Russia had Wednesday off at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships, there was no shortage of star power on display in Helsinki.
A number of medal contenders were in action, including the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland, Slovakia and the United States. Although Wednesday's results may not make or break those teams in terms of their medal pursuit, they certainly had a major impact on the seeding outlook for the elimination round.
As the group pecking orders continue to take shape, here is a look at Wednesday's World Junior Championship scores, as well as an in-depth breakdown of each game on the schedule.
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Wednesday's Scoreboard
| B | Belarus | Czech Republic | 5-3, Czech Republic |
| A | Denmark | Sweden | 5-0, Sweden |
| B | Finland | Slovakia | 8-3, Finland |
| A | Switzerland | United States | 10-1, United States |
Group A Standings
| 1 | Sweden | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 2 | United States | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Canada | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Denmark | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Switzerland | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Group B Standings
| 1 | Russia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | Czech Republic | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | Finland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | Slovakia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Belarus | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Belarus vs. Czech Republic
One day after Switzerland nearly upset Canada, Belarus seemed poised to knock off the Czech Republic; however, the favored Czechs dug deep and escaped with a 5-3 victory.
The Czechs entered the second period with a 1-0 lead, but Belarus seized a 2-1 advantage by the midway point of the second thanks to goals from Stepan Falkovski and Yegor Sharangovich.
Dominik Lakatos answered for the Czech Republic to tie the game, but the Belarusians didn't back down, as Vladislav Goncharov gave them the lead once again with less than three minutes remaining in the middle frame.
While Belarus clung to a 3-2 advantage entering the third, history was not on their side, according to the IIHF:
Belarus managed to hang on to the lead for more than half the period despite goalie Ivan Kulbakov being under siege, but Jiri Smejkal finally broke the seal with just over eight minutes left in regulation.
That goal clearly energized the Czechs, as Radek Vesely gave them the lead just over two minutes later, and Dominik Masin added an insurance marker with 20 seconds remaining.
It was a valiant effort from a Belarus team that desperately needed a win, but it wasn't enough, and it is now eliminated from contention, and will be tasked with avoiding relegation.
Conversely, the Czech Republic did well to maintain its second-place standing in Group B behind a Russian team that beat it in a shootout to open the tournament.
There may be some reason for concern regarding the Czechs moving forward since Wednesday's performance wasn't an impressive one against arguably the worst team in the World Junior Championship field, but their immense talent won out in the end and showed why they are a threat to leave Finland with a medal.
Denmark vs. Sweden
Sweden clinched the top seed in Group A Wednesday as it outclassed Denmark in a 5-0 victory at Helsinki Ice Hall.
The Swedes now have three regulation victories in three tries, and although a clash with Canada is still on the horizon, they ensured that they will finish ahead of the Canadians by beating the Danes.
Sweden was clearly the dominant team Wednesday as Los Angeles King prospect Adrian Kempe scored 13 seconds into the game, and it never looked back from there.
The victory was made especially impressive by the fact that Sweden was once again without top player William Nylander, who was injured in the team's opener against Switzerland. While Nylander won't play against Canada either, there is some optimism regarding his status moving forward, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet:
Nylander wasn't needed Wednesday as Sweden dominated from a defensive perspective, allowing just nine shots on goal.
It also had no shortage of offense with five different goal scorers, including Gustav Forsling, Oskar Lindblom, William Lagesson and Alexander Nylander.
Sweden is one of the deepest and most talented teams at the 2016 World Junior Championships, which makes it one of the few teams capable of overcoming the loss of a player like Nylander.
Things will get far more difficult for the Swedes moving forward, though, in terms of the level of competition they will face.
They will be a threat to go the distance with or without Nylander, but there is no question that they are a far tougher team to handle when the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect is in the lineup.
Finland vs. Slovakia
Slovakia seemingly had host Finland on the ropes after taking a 2-0 lead Wednesday, but it was all Finns after that as they defeated Slovaks 8-3, and kept things tight near the top of Group B.
Four Finnish players tallied at least three points, including the entire line of Sebastian Aho, Jesse Puljujarvi and Patrik Laine.
As pointed out by ESPN.com's Corey Pronman, that line has been so dominant that its performance against Slovakia was essentially routine:
After entering the second period trailing 2-1, Finland managed to seize a 3-2 leading heading into the third. That is when Suomi truly poured it on as it scored five goals in the final frame, including one just 28 seconds into the period by Puljujarvi.
The Finns excelled in all areas, but they were especially lethal with the man advantage, as they netted an impressive four power-play goals.
Finland currently sits third in Group B, but it still has a chance to win the group. A victory over the Czech Republic Thursday would guarantee at least a second-place finish, but in order to take the top spot, it needs Slovakia to upset Russia.
Regardless of where Finland finishes, it is a team that few others would like to go up against in the knockout round due to its explosive top line and the fact that it has home-ice advantage.
Slovakia found that out firsthand Wednesday, but the Finns still have plenty of work to do if they want to win their second World Junior Championship gold medal in three years.
Switzerland vs. United States
After a frustrating 1-0 loss to Sweden despite carrying the play for much of the game, the United States exploded for double-digit goals Wednesday as it defeated Switzerland 10-1, and sent the Swiss to the relegation round in the process.
Eight different players scored for the Americans, including potential 2016 No. 1 overall draft pick Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk, who netted two goals each. Matthews finished with a game-high four points and showed why he is such a highly touted prospect.
With the victory, Team USA moved into second in Group A, and with a regulation or overtime win against Denmark Thursday, it will clinch the No. 2 spot.
As pointed out by Chris Peters of CBS Sports, Wednesday's performance was an extremely encouraging one for the Americans as they continue to get better with the knockout round approaching:
"Big takeaway from the rout is that U.S. has gotten better with each game played. Starting to get comfortable. 79 SOG over last 2 games
— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) December 30, 2015"
Miracle on Ice hero Mike Eruzione liked what he saw too, as he praised the United States for its remarkable showing:
Team USA made it clear from the early going that it wouldn't repeat what happened against Sweden, as it scored six goals in the first period.
It didn't take the foot off the accelerator based on an additional four goals scored in the second, which is a scary thought for the United States' potential future opponents.
Losing to Sweden was a bit of setback, but with a win over Canada and a decisive thrashing of a team that pushed Canada to a shootout, Team USA has to be considered one of the top contenders to take home gold in Helsinki.
Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.
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