Buffalo Sabres’ Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Brandon Montour were all inactive on the second day of the 2019 IIHF World Championships as both Team USA and Team Canada had a day off. Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Latvia, Finland and the Czech Republic all came out on top in their respective games; Mike Hammond scored the first Worlds goal for Great Britain in 15 years, and 2019 NHL Draft-eligible Kaapo Kakko had a hat trick. Denmark 5, France 4 Denmark goals: Frederik Storm, Markus Lauridsen, Lars Eller, Jesper Jensen, Frederik Storm (SO) France goals: Charles Bertrand, Olivier Dame-Malka, Damien Fleury, Valentin Claireaux Switzerland 9, Italy 0 Switzerland goals: Kevin Fiala, Gregory Hofmann, Lino Martschini, Vincent Praplan, Simon Moser, Kevin Fiala, Kevin Fiala, Romain Loeffel, Nico Hischier Italy goals: None Germany 3, Great Britain 1 Germany goals: Moritz Seider, Yasin Ehliz, Leon Draisaitl Great Britain goals: Mike Hammond Latvia 5, Austria 2 Latvia goals: Rudolfs Blazers, Lauris Darzins, Rodrigo Abols, Gints Meija, Ronalds Kenins Austria goals: Michael Raffel, Raphael Herburger Slovakia 2, Finland 4 Slovakia goals: Erik Cernak, Martin Marincin Finland goals: Petteri Lindbohm, Kaapo Kakko, Kaapo Kakko, Kaapo Kakko Kaapo Kakko now has four goals in this tournament. A ridiculous move from behind the goal line. 3-2 Finland. #IIHFWorlds #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/00yZ29kC5X — Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisTHN) May 11, 2019 Norway 2, Czech Republic 7 Norway goals: Tobias Lindstrom, Sondre Olden Czech Republic goals: Filip Hronek, Filip Hronek, Michael Frolik, Michael Frolik, Michal Repik, Filip Chytil, Dominik Kubalik Tomorrow’s Games (Sunday) (*Asterisk denotes game is televised on NHL Network US). 6 am: United States vs. France*, Russia vs. Austria 10 am: Denmark vs. Germany, Italy vs. Sweden* 2 pm: Great Britain vs. Canada*, Latvia vs. Switzerland<doc-sep>Following the final day of the 2018-19 season for the Colorado Avalanche, several players from the team have now decided to fly to Slovakia and play for their home countries in the IIHF Men’s World Hockey Championships. The tournament started today (Friday), but countries always leave roster spots open for late arrivals from the NHL and AHL playoffs. Tyson Jost TyJo was the first of the Avalanche to sign up for the tournament. He’s joined a short-handed Canada squad containing a lot of young and inexperienced players. They were dealt a massive blow on the final day of their training camp when Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares suffered an oblique injury and was called straight home by Kyle Dubas and the team. Without him, there should be a lot of opportunity for Jost to strut his stuff. Tom and Lauren put together a quick breakdown of the team and where he will fit, along with who Jost knows from his past with Team Canada. Related Tyson Jost set to join Team Canada at the IIHF World Hockey Championship Philipp Grubauer Gru will be joining fellow NHLers Leon Draisaitl from the Edmonton Oilers and Korbinian Holzer from the Anaheim Ducks on Team Germany for the tournament. Germany should be able to get out of the group stage; they just need to be top four among the United States, Canada, Finland, Slovakia, Denmark, France, and Great Britain. Germany currently has two goalies on the roster, but both are local DEL (Deutsche Eishockey Liga) players so Grubauer will almost certainly step in as the starting goalie and play every game. Nikita Zadorov The Russians are a stacked team in Group B. A lot of their best players fell out of the NHL playoffs in the first round and are fully ready to get some revenge on the world stage. Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Nikita Kucherov are there just to name a few. Their defense has looked a little thin (what’s new) with only Nikita Zaitsev, Mikhail Sergachev, and Dmitry Orlov the only players on the back end from the NHL. Zadorov will likely step right into the top six behind those three and Nikita Nesterov from the KHL (formerly the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens). Here are their lines: Team Russia line-up against Norway. Grigorenko - Malkin - Dadonov Ovechkin - Kuznetsov - Kaprizov Gusev - Anisimov - Kucherov Kovalchuk - Andronov - Plotnikov Barabanov Sergachev - Nesterov Orlov - Zaitsev Khafizulin - Gavrikov Vasilevsky will start. Georgiev backing up. — Aivis Kalniņš (@A_Kalnins) May 10, 2019 Sven Andrighetto Andrighetto is not currently on Switzerland’s World Championship team, but he is expected to join on Sunday according to their official Twitter account. Shout out to Shana on Twitter for the scoop. The Swiss have forwards Nico Hischier, and Kevin Fiala from the NHL already on the team, along with defensemen Roman Josi, and Yannick Weber. Freigabe: check ✅ Versicherung: check ✅ Sven Andrighetto wird am Sonntag in Bratislava zur Nati stossen! *** Libération : check ✅ Assurance : check ✅ Sven Andrighetto rejoindra l'équipe nationale à Bratislava dimanche !#HoppSchwiiz #HopSuisse #IIHFWorlds2019 @Andrighetto10 — Swiss Ice Hockey (@SwissIceHockey) May 10, 2019 The Maybes Canada has one spot on defense left to fill, so there’s a strong chance they take one of Tyson Barrie, Cale Makar, or Samuel Girard with them. Likely, the Avalanche are already in contact with Hockey Canada to hash out who goes and who stays at home. Pavel Francouz is available for the Czech Republic after the Colorado Eagles were bounced from the Calder Cup playoffs in the first round by the Bakersfield Condors. After Czeching with their roster on the official IIHF website, the Czech Republic has an open spot on goal. According to Elite Prospects, Francouz is already with them. Whether it becomes official or another player takes the third spot ahead of Francouz remains to be seen.<doc-sep>Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Kaapo Kakko will likely wind up with the New York Rangers as the No. 2 overall pick in next month’s NHL Draft in Vancouver. On Friday, he showed why New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero should have second thoughts about going with Jack Hughes with the top selection. During Finland’s 3-1 win over Canada in their opening game of the 2019 IIHF World Championship, the 18-year-old forward scored twice, including this highlight-reel goal in the first period. Kakko’s profile on Elite Prospects tells you what we saw on that goal. “A quick-thinking winger, Kakko never seems to be in a rush. He reads the game exceptionally well and finds himself a step ahead while the play is still developing.” As soon as the Thomas Chabot turnover lands on Arttu Ilomaki’s stick, Kakko takes off up ice as he sees how the play is developing. Toni Rajala’s touch pass then sends Kakko through Chabot while Brandon Montour takes a penalty in an attempt to stop him. Then the young Finnish forward shows off his edge work and smoothly beats Matt Murray for the opening goal. The top prospect was later out on the ice as Finland defended their 2-1 lead late in the third period. Kakko, who was named “Player of the Game,” created a turnover and then finished off Canada with an empty-netter to complete his memorable night. Kakko is eyeing history during the 2019 Worlds. If Finland wins the tournament, he would be the youngest player to ever win gold at the U18, U20 and senior World Championships. 2019 NHL DRAFT FIRST-ROUND ORDER 1. New Jersey Devils 2. New York Rangers 3. Chicago Blackhawks 4. Colorado Avalanche (from Ottawa Senators) 5. Los Angeles Kings 6. Detroit Red Wings 7. Buffalo Sabres 8. Edmonton Oilers 9. Anaheim Ducks 10. Vancouver Canucks 11. Philadelphia Flyers 12. Minnesota Wild 13. Florida Panthers 14. Arizona Coyotes 15. Montreal Canadiens 16. Colorado Avalanche 17. Vegas Golden Knights 18. Dallas Stars 19. Ottawa Senators (from Columbus Blue Jackets) 20. New York Rangers (from Winnipeg Jets) 21. Pittsburgh Penguins 22. Los Angeles Kings (from Toronto Maple Leafs) 23. New York Islanders 24. Nashville Predators 25. Washington Capitals 26. Calgary Flames 27. Tampa Bay Lightning 28. Conference final losing team with fewest points 29. Conference final losing team with most points 30. Stanley Cup Final losing team 31. Stanley Cup winner ———— Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.<doc-sep>
The 2019 IIHF World Championships kicked off today in Slovakia. A Canadian roster stacked with NHL talent fell to Finland by a score of 3-1 in the first game of the day for Group A. Brandon Montour got caught out of position on Finland’s first goal, while Sam Reinhart was held pointless. Elsewhere, Russia topped Norway 5-2. Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel recorded one assist in the United States’ 4-1 loss to Slovakia; he was also part of his team’s top power-play unit. Finally, the Czech Republic narrowly defeated Sweden by a score of 5-2. Finland 3, Canada 1 Finland goals: Kaapo Kakko (2019 draft eligible); Arttu Ilomaki; Kaapo Kakko Canada goal: Jonathan Marchessault Russia 5, Norway 2 Russia goals: Evgeni Dadonov; Artem Anisimov; Nikita Kucherov; Evgeni Dadonov; Nikita Gusev Norway goals: Thomas Valkvae Olsen; Jonas Holos Slovakia 4, United States 1 Patrick Kane to Alex DeBrincat and the #Blackhawks duo make it 1-1. The puck was bouncing when DeBrincat released the shot on the PP. Wowza. #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/4Tn2KPJ8U6 — Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisTHN) May 10, 2019 United States goals: Alex DeBrincat Slovakia goals: Matus Sukel, Erik Cernak, Tomas Tatar, Michal Kristof you don't really need a reason to gif our dear sweet boy pic.twitter.com/CTeUFDoYu8 — depressed buffalos (@depressedbflos) May 10, 2019 Czech Republic 5, Sweden 2 Czech Republic goals: Jakub Vrana, Dominik Kubalik, Michael Frolik, Jakub Vrana, Jan Kovar Sweden goals: Patric Hornqvist, Oskar Lindblom Sabres Players in Action Today Sam Reinhart: 0g, 0a, 0 pts, 0 PIM, 0 shots, minus-1, 14:36 ice time Brandon Montour: 0g, 0a, 0 pts, 0 PIM, 2 shots, minus-2, 23:36 ice time Jack Eichel: 0g, 1a, 1 pt, 0 PIM, 3 shots, minus-2, 18:49 ice time Tomorrow’s Games (Saturday, all times ET) (*Asterisk denotes game is televised on NHL Network US). 6 am: Denmark vs. France*, Switzerland vs. Italy 10 am: Germany vs. Great Britain*, Latvia vs. Austria 2 pm: Slovakia vs. Finland*, Norway vs. Czech Republic