World Junior Hockey Championship 2017 Results: Tuesday Group Scores, Reaction
Tuesday marked Day 2 of the 2017 World Junior Hockey Championship, as play continued in the Great White North with four games divided between Toronto and Montreal.
While the United States had the day off, host Canada was scheduled to be in action, as were defending champion Finland and perennial contenders such as Russia and the Czech Republic.
As group action at the WJC continues, here is a rundown of Tuesday's results, along with a look at the group standings and in-depth analysis of each game.
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Tuesday Scores
| A | Switzerland vs. Czech Republic | Switzerland 4, Czech Republic 3 (OT) |
| B | Russia vs. Latvia | 4 p.m. |
| A | Finland vs. Denmark | 5:30 p.m. |
| B | Slovakia vs. Canada | 8 p.m. |
Group Standings
| 1 | Czech Republic | 2 | 1-0-1-0 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| 2 | Sweden | 1 | 1-0-0-0 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 1 | 0-1-0-0 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 4 | Finland | 1 | 0-0-0-1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | Denmark | 1 | 0-0-0-1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 1 | United States | 1 | 1-0-0-0 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Canada | 1 | 1-0-0-0 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Slovakia | 0 | 0-0-0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Russia | 1 | 0-0-0-1 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | Latvia | 1 | 0-0-0-1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
Tuesday Recap
Switzerland 4, Czech Republic 3 (OT)
After upsetting Finland to open its tournament Monday, the Czech Republic experienced a huge letdown Tuesday in the form of a 4-3 overtime loss to Switzerland.
Although the Swiss played Canada tough in a 4-3 exhibition loss prior to the start of the tourney, the win came as something of a surprise due the Czechs' success against the 2016 gold medal winners Monday.
The first period was a feeling-out process between the two teams, but Switzerland began to take over in the second period.
Loic In-Albon kicked off the scoring for the Swiss nearly midway through the second period. He took a great feed from Nico Hischier from along the wall and deposited it past Czech goaltender Jakub Skarek, as seen in the following video courtesy of TSN:
While the Czechs carried the game for much of the remainder of the period after outshooting Switzerland in the first, the Swiss managed to add to their lead with less than four minutes remaining in the middle frame.
Calvin Thurkauf made the most of the man advantage, scoring a power-play goal off a rebound from a Damien Riat shot:
Hischier registered his second assist of the game on the goal, which put Switzerland on top entering the third period.
The Czechs showed a flair for the dramatic in their win over Finland Monday, as they scored with just over one minute remaining in the game to win.
They began to show off their penchant for coming through in big moments once again early in the third Tuesday, when Radek Koblizek lit the lamp behind Swiss goalie Joren Van Pottelberghe to cut the deficit to 2-1:
"Nothing like a beautiful BarDown goal to get your team within one. @CanadianTire #BigPlay #WorldJuniors https://t.co/JLvAqi0ZFz pic.twitter.com/0rHgy6ygXZ
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 27, 2016"
Ty Anderson of WEEI credited Boston Bruins defenseman prospect Jakub Zboril with a great play to set up the marker:
The Czech Republic's celebration was short-lived, however, as Switzerland netted its third goal of the game just over three minutes later.
Riat added his second power-play point of the game with a goal that was assisted by Jonas Siegenthaler and Thurkauf.
While that score could have put the game away for Switzerland, the Czechs continued to battle. Ottawa Senators forward prospect Filip Chlapik scored a power-play goal assisted by Filip Hronek and Michael Spacek at the 10:41 mark of the third frame.
Chlapik then showed off his heroics once again with just 16 seconds remaining in regulation, scoring for the second time to knot the score at 3-3 and send it to overtime.
Zachary DeVine of HockeyProphet.com pointed out that Spacek, who assisted on the game-tying goal, is already gaining a reputation as a player who comes through in big moments:
The Czech Republic had all the momentum on its side entering the overtime period, but Switzerland had the benefit of having the best player on the ice.
Just 23 seconds into overtime, Hischier got a breakaway opportunity and made no mistake, beating Skarek off a feed from Riat to give the Swiss the 4-3 victory:
According to Steve Kournianos of The Draft Analyst, Hischier has routinely made such plays throughout the year:
Hischier is among the top prospects in the 2017 draft class, and with three points in Switzerland's first game of the tournament, there is little doubt his stock is on the rise.
Also, by virtue of Switzerland's win, it appears as though a group that figured to be dominated by Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic is now very much up for grabs.
Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.
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