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WJC: Makar, Timmins to play for gold

The 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship is slowly nearing its end, with the semifinals and the final game of the relegation round being played yesterday. Denmark avoided relegation after beating Belarus in a shootout, Sweden beat the United States much to the surprise of fans and analysts alike to reach the finals for the first time since 2014 and Canada squared off against the Czech Republic. Colorado Avalanche prospects Cale Makar and Conor Timmins were looking to reach their premiere finals at the World Juniors.

Canada – Czech Republic 7:2 (2:1, 4:0, 1:1)

16. Steel (Clague, Kyrou), 19. Batherson (Makar, Thomas), 28. Batherson (Makar, Bean), 30. Comtois (Howden, Formenton), 33. Kyrou (Steel, Dube), 37. Batherson (McLeod), 46. Katchouk (Raddysh, Thomas) – 6. Zadina (Necas, Michnac), 51. Zadina

After easily beating Switzerland in the quarterfinals, the Canadians looked like no one was going to stop them from reaching this year’s finals. Despite early predictions, Canada was slow to get their offensive machine going and found themselves trailing 1-0 after Filip Zadina’s tally in the sixth minute. The Czechs could’ve doubled their lead several minutes later, but Martin Nečas only hit the crossbar of Carter Hart’s goal. The Czechs took two unnecessary penalties in the latter half of the opening frame, with Canada’s lethal power-play scoring on both occasions to give the Canadians the lead. Drake Batherson’s go-ahead goal was a deflection of Cale Makar’s point shot. The same scenario unfolded in the second period, as Batherson tipped another point shot for Makar to double Canada’s lead. It was all Canada since then, as Dominique Ducharme’s team proceeded to put three more pucks behind Josef Korenar before he was replaced by Jakub Skarek. The Canadians also struck in the third and were on their way to the finals despite the Czechs scoring one more goal.Cale Makar was once again terrific despite his limited ice-time, quarterbacking Canada’s almost automatic power-play and assisting on Batherson’s first two goals. With 3 goals and 8 points, Makar has the most points among defensemen at the tournament and sits in a six-way tie for 6th in points overall. Colorado’s fourth overall pick in 2017 also recorded one shot on goal. Conor Timmins had a rather uneventful night, having a TOI of 19:27 and recording a sole shot on goal, while also taking a minor penalty for hooking in the third period. Timmins also failed to glove down a flying puck in the neutral zone, which lead to Zadina picking it up in Canada’s zone and scoring his second of the night. Both Avalanche prospects were also named two of Canada's three best players of the tournament. The Canadians will face Sweden in the finals today.

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