Florida Panthers prospect Kasper Puutio scored his third goal of the tournament and added two assists as Finland crushed Slovakia 9-3 on Sunday at the 2022 World Junior Championship in Edmonton. The 20-year-old Puutio has lit the lamp in all three of Finland’s wins during group play. Puutio logged 18;12 of ice time and finished the game with three shots on goal and a +2 rating. The Finns will face host Canada this evening with the winner taking first place in Group A.
Team USA finished in first place in Group B by posting a 3-2 win over Sweden. Mackie Samoskevich played 14:36 in the victory and finished the tilt with two shots on goal and an even rating. The Americans will face Czechia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Ludvig Jansson did not suit up for Sweden.
Latvia earned a spot in the quarterfinals by upsetting the Czechs by a 5-2 count on Sunday. Sandis Vilmanis logged 15:25 of ice time, registered three shots on goal, and finished with a +1 rating in the big win.
Jakub Kos played 13:31 for the Czechs and finished with one shot on goal and a -1 rating. Kos also took three draws, winning one.
Today is the final day of group play with the final Group B spot and seeding in the quarterfinals up for grabs.
WJC schedule
Switzerland vs Austria 2 p.m. (NHL Network)
Canada vs Finland (Puutio) 6 p.m. (NHL Network)
Sweden (Jansson) vs Germany 10 p.m. (NHL Network)