Florida Panthers goaltending prospect Tyler Muszelik had a bit of a rough go in Friday action from the 2023 World Junior Summer Showcase.
After spending the week on USA White, Muszelik was shifted over to USA Blue to start that’s squad’s final game against Sweden. The Swedes beat Muszelik four times on 15 shots in the opening frame with San Jose Sharks 2022 first-rounder Filip Bystedt potting three of the goals.
Muszelik settled down late in the period, allowing his teammates to pull within one after Lane Hutson and Gavin Hayes lit the lamp before he departed at 10:11 with 13 saves on 17 shots.
USA Blue ended up rallying for a 5-4 win while Finland edged USA White by a 4-3 count.
Muszelik, a sixth-round pick in 2022, finished the showcase with 4.09 GAA and .872 save percentage. Those numbers don’t look particularly good on the surface, but they were greatly affected by the rocky first period against the Swedes. Muszelik and Finland’s Niklas Kakko were the only goalies who got three starts.
- Elliot Ekmark (2020 – seventh round) has signed a two-year deal with Almtuna IS of Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan. Ekmark played seven games (1G/2A) in the Swedish Hockey League last season with Linkoping HC before suffering an injury and then being loaned to Bjorkloven IF of HockeyAllsvenskan. In 16 regula season games with Bjorkloven, the 21-year-old foward scored once and collected two assists. He also had one assist in nine qualification games.
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup
Friday’s Results
- Germany 6, Slovakia 4 (Seventh-place game)
- Sweden 3, Switzerland 2 (OT) (Fifth-place game)
- Czechia 8, Finland 2 (Semifinal)
- Canada 7, United States 2 (Semifinal)
Today’s games
- Canada wins gold with 3-2 overtime win over Czechia.
- United States wins bronze medal game 5-2 over Finland