Canada wanted to redeem themselves after their loss to Sweden. They did that by locking up the second seed in Group A with a 6-3 win over Germany. Despite the final result, this game was in doubt until late in the third when Canada was able to score three unanswered to secure the victory. In terms of chances, Canada was dominant and if it wasn’t for the goaltending of Germany’s Matthias Bittner, the score would’ve been much more slanted towards Canada.
For Germany, it was a gut punch of a loss for several reasons. The first is that, as mentioned before, the game was tied less than eight minutes into the third period. To go from tied to losing by three in a matter of minutes is devastating for any team, but for Germany, it’s incredibly painful. The other reason is that with the Germans losing to Latvia in their last game and then here to Canada, they now have to play in the relegation game to avoid being eliminated from the World Juniors for next year. Let’s look at what stood out in this one.
The Win Comes at a Cost
Canada in particular will leave this game with not just happiness in winning, but frustration and concern as well. This comes from the questionable calls and non-calls at times from the referees. It started just 11 seconds into the contest as the 11th overall pick in this past year’s draft by the Arizona Coyotes, Conor Geekie, was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for a hit to the head on Germany’s Samuel Schindler. Germany would take advantage of the five minutes by scoring the game’s first goal by Julian Lutz.
Related: Coyotes Prospect Spotlight: Conor Geekie
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The concern now for Canada and Geekie will be how long his suspension will be. The early belief is that he will most likely be suspended at least one game which would make him unavailable for Canada’s quarterfinal game. The forward had had a solid tournament up until that hit. He finished the preliminary round with two goals and three points overall. It’s a tough loss for Canada, but one thing this team has shown is that they have depth and that next-man-up mentality will be in play in their next game.
Shock Factor for Germany
After Germany started off the tournament with their first-ever win vs Finland, many looked at this team as one that could make a run to the medal round. Fast forward four days later and they will now have to fight for their tournament lives. Losing to host country Sweden was one thing, but being upset by Latvia was pretty much the death knell. Not only had Latvia up until that matchup not won a game, but had not even scored a goal. They did both with a blowout 6-2 win.
Related: Latvia Keeps Quarterfinal Hopes Alive With 6-2 Win Over Germany
They headed into this game vs Canada with four game result options. Three of them would have gotten them in the final eight. Unfortunately, the fourth option was the result and now Germany is staring face-to-face with a relegation game in a few days. Give Germany credit for fighting as long as they did vs Canada, but in the end, they made too many mistakes and Bittner imploded in the third period. They’ll have a few days off to regroup for the biggest game of the year for Germany.
Celebrini is Inevitable
Macklin Celebrini is the real deal. There is no question about it. He finished this game with two more goals and once again was a main catalyst for Canada. The projected number one overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft finishes with four goals and eight overall points in the four preliminary games. The first goal came on his very first shift of the game.
The second one he got was tremendous. He used his speed to get to a loose puck and with Bittner way out of his crease, was able to rifle one from a sharp angle and in. It was the dagger in the heart of every German fan and an exclamation point for what has been a great tournament so far for the 17-year-old forward. He’ll now be put to the test in the medal rounds and will be someone Canada will look to lead them on their quest for a third straight gold medal.
Canada’s next game will be a quarterfinal matchup against a gritty Czechia team on Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 8:30 AM ET, while Germany will face Norway in the relegation game on Thursday, Jan. 4 at 5:00 AM ET. It was a fun preliminary round and now we move to the rounds where the games are bigger and the stakes are that much greater.
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