Canada throttle Germany in a record-setting win

Adamo Marinelli

Dec. 28, 2022

That is the Team Canada we were all expecting to see on Boxing Day. 

That is the Canada squad with so much talent - including nine first-round picks - which we were all expecting to see defend their World Juniors Gold Medal from last year. All of a sudden, Canada is back in contention to win their second consecutive gold.

After a tough 5-2 loss to Czechia to open their tournament, Canada bounced back in a big way, crushing Team Germany 11-2 in a game they completely dominated on both sides of the puck from start to finish.

Team Canada controlled possession and used their speed, physicality, excellent puck movement, and playmaking to create numerous high-quality scoring chances. 

Canada’s powerplay was extremely efficient. Canada scored a whopping seven powerplay goals and four powerplay goals on the same German five-minute major penalty late in the second period which turned a 5-1 lead into a 9-1 lead. 

Canada led 3-1 after the first period, 9-1 after the second period, and added two more in the third period to win 11-2.

Canada’s puck movement on the man advantage was stellar and their quick passing created several shooting lanes for players to capitalize on.

Canada more than tripled their opponents’ production, outshooting Germany 52-16, and had 22 shots in a dominant six-goal second period. 

Dylan Guenther and Connor Bedard both scored hattricks in Canada’s rout of Germany but Bedard, who also had four assists in the game tied Canada’s single-game point record in a World Juniors game with seven. 

Logan Stankoven had one goal and two assists; Olen Zellweger had three assists. Brandt Clarke, Joshua Roy, and Shane Wright also got on the score sheet. each with a goal and an assist.

Canada was phenomenal defensively for the entire 60 minutes and didn’t allow Germany to do much of anything offensively. 

Canada’s forecheck was great, they dominated in neutral ice, were physical, created several turnovers, and forced Germany to the outside which limited their ability to create scoring chances in dangerous areas of the ice around the net.

Of Germany’s 16 shots on goal, many of them were not quality scoring chances. Canada goaltender Thomas Milic wasn’t extremely busy tonight, but when he was called on to make a big save, he did. The Germany game isn’t a large sample size (only 14 saves), but Milic did enough to secure the win and I believe Milic is the better of Canada’s two goalies and should’ve started against Czechia. 

It was not a night to remember for either German goaltender, especially Simon Wolf who conceded nine goals on 39 shots and was pulled after the second period. Rihards Babulis was not much better in relief, allowing two goals on 13 shots, but if it weren’t for a few key saves, Canada may have had another two or three goals.

Neither goalie is entirely to blame, the German defense stood no chance against a talented, hungry Canadian side that was looking to capitalize on the chances they created after they were unable to do so in their opener against Czechia. 

Canada seemed to win every puck battle, they got to every loose puck first, and they spent more than double the time in the attacking zone than Germany did. Germany spent the majority of the game defending and faced multiple onslaughts after another. Germany was out-sped, outmatched, outshot, and outclassed by a superior group of Canadian offensive talent.

Defenseman Philip Sinn was involved in both German goals with a goal and an assist and won player of the game for Germany. That’s a bright spot for Germany.

Canada is back in action tomorrow night against a disheartened Austria squad, who have lost their previous two games by an aggregate score of 20-0. It is looking like Canada will cruise to another dominant win, but no team can be taken lightly in this tournament. Just ask Slovakia, who topped the USA 6-3 today as massive underdogs. 

Canada now sits in third place in Group A, three points behind Czechia and Sweden and with a goal difference of +6; Czechia and Sweden have a +12 goal difference. Two games into the preliminary round, Canada is in a strong position to make the elimination round and if they win their last two games against Austria and Sweden, they can potentially finish second in their group. Canada can finish in first place with a Czechia loss, and if they win their two remaining games by a combined margin of +7.

Germany has a day off tomorrow before they try to right the ship and get their first win against Austria on Dec. 30.