Florida Panthers 2020 first round draft pick Anton Lundell scored a goal and added two assists in Finland’s 6-0 victory over Slovakia at the World Junior Championship in Edmonton.
Lundell opened the scoring with his third of the tournament at the 8:57 mark of the first period. The 19-year-old goes to the net to finish off a nice pass from Kasper Simontaival following a turnover.
🚨🇫🇮 @LundellAnton scores his 3rd goal in as many games and gets @leijonat on the board! #WorldJuniors @FlaPanthers pic.twitter.com/O5C8ZWVwd1
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 30, 2020
Lundell would pick up his first assist of the game, playing catch with defenseman Topi Niemela, who blasted the puck home 6:09 into the second period.
🚨🇫🇮Delayed penalty allows @leijonat to pull their goalie for an extra attacker and Finland converts to a goal! 2-0 as Topi Niemela finds the back of the net. #WorldJuniors @MapleLeafs pic.twitter.com/LgfT9errqe
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 30, 2020
Here, Lundell returns the favor to linemate Simontaival by sending him in on goal, beating a couple of Slovaks to the puck after a shot block, for his second assist in a 2:26 span.
🚨🇫🇮WHAT A GOAL! @leijonat gets Hlavaj out of the net and Kasper Simontaival sends the puck to the back of the net. #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/7PCOZLs3vK
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 30, 2020
Lundell won 10 of 15 faceoffs, had four shots on goal and finished the game with a +4 rating while logging 15:54 of ice time. He has three goals, three assists and +7 rating in three round robin games.
Defenseman Kasper Puutio logged 17:25 of ice time and finished the game with four shots on goal and an even rating for the 3-0 Finns, who will face Devon Levi and Canada this evening with the winner claiming first place in Pool A.
Russia snapped Sweden’s 54-game winning streak in preliminary round play with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory. Marat Khusnutdinov bagged the game-winning goal with just 5.6 seconds left in extra session.
Florida’s second-rounder in 2020, Emil Heineman logged 15:54 of ice time and finished the game without a shot on goal and an even rating.
By getting taken to overtime, the Russians, who surrendered the tying goal late in the third period, left the door open for the winner of tonight’s match between the Swedes and the United States to finish first in Pool A.
Any type of victory by Sweden will vault them back over the Russians. Spencer Knight and the Americans must win the game in regulation to move up to the top spot and draw the advantageous quarterfinal matchup against Slovakia. The Russians can only rremain in fist place if the United States wins in overtime or shootout.
In the other game on Wednesday, Germany held off Switzerland to win a 5-4 decision that put them in the quarterfinals. Tim Stuetzle (2G/3A) and John-Jason Peterka (3G/2A) each had five points for the determined Germans.
Today’s games
Czech Republic vs. Austria 2 p.m. NHL Network
Canada (Devon Levi) vs. Finland (Lundell, Puutio) 6 p.m. NHL Network
Sweden (Heineman) vs. United States (Knight) 9:30 p.m.