Panthers at the WJC: Emil Heineman scores shorthanded as Sweden cruises by Slovakia

Florida Panthers 2020 second round pick Emil Heineman scored a shorthanded goal 11:15 into the second period to put his team up by two as Sweden went on to cruise to a 7-1 win over Slovakia at the World Junior Championship in Edmonton.

Heineman tracked down Tobias Bjornfot’s clear and went in alone on goaltender Nick Malik, beating him with a wrister from the lower left circle.

The 43rd overall pick in October’s virtual draft finished his first game at the tournament with one shot goal and a +2 rating in 11:20 TOI while skating on Sweden’s third line. Heineman took a tripping penalty in the third period that was killed off.

Florida’s seventh-rounder (212th overall) Devon Levi stopped nine of ten shots faced to get the win as host Canada opened the tournament by crushing Germany by a 16-2 count.

Levi played the first two periods of the game before giving way to backup Dylan Garand with Canada leading 11-1. John-Jason Peterka was the only player to solve Levi, scoring a power-play goal 13:12 into the opening frame that cut Canada’s lead to 2-1. Dylan Cozens le the way offensively with three goals and three assists.

Spencer Knight didn’t play in the United States 11-0 rout over Austria. Dustin Wolf got the call and made ten saves to get the shutout win. Matthew Boldy bagged a hat trick and Trevor Zegras produced two goals and two assists.

The Americans are off until Tuesday’s tilt against the Czech Republic. It will be interesting to see if Knight returns to the net or if Wolf has taken over as the starter.

Today’s games

Finland (Lundell, Puutio) vs. Switzerland 2 p.m. NHL Network

Slovakia vs. Canada (Levi) 6 p.m. NHL Network

Czech Republic vs. Russia 9:30 p.m.