EDMONTON, AB – DECEMBER 26: Eemil Viro #6 of Finland during warm up against Austria during the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship at Rogers Place on December 27, 2021 in Edmonton, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)
Day two of the World Junior Championships is complete and one Detroit Red Wings defense prospect and one goaltender played during Group A games. Finnish defenseman Eemil Viro and Czechia goaltender Jan Bednar played games on Monday.
Here are the observations for both players after Day 2 of the WJC.
Eemil Viro once again played on the 3rd defense pairing for Finland. Finland defeated Austria 7-1 and now have a perfect 2-0-0 record for the tournament. Finland will play Czechia in their next game on Wednesday at 2:00 PM ET.
1: Viro played 24 shifts for a total of 17:21 TOI for Finland.
2: Viro had a +1 rating on the afternoon.
3: Viro had three shots on goal during the game.
4: Unlike Sunday’s victory over Germany on Day 1, Viro was NOT on the first penalty killing unit against Austria. Out of the four shorthanded situations for Finland, Viro helped kill off one of the infractions.
5: Viro continued to look very sound positionally on the Finnish defense.
6: Viro was more involved in the offensive zone against a much weaker Austrian team. Viro was on the ice for one goal scored for during the 7-1 victory.
Jan Bednar- #2, G, Czechia
Jan Bednar started in goal for Czechia in their 2-1 OT loss to Germany on Monday night. Czechia now has a record of 0-1-1 and now play Finland in an almost must win game at 2:00 PM ET on Wednesday afternoon.
1: Bednar played an outstanding game in goal for Czechia making 30 saves on 32 shots.
2: Bednar made a terrific save on a breakaway early in the 2nd period to keep the game 0-0.
3: Bednar is square to the puck and controls the bottom of the net on all shots.
4: Bednar is really good at handling the puck and making passes up ice to forwards.
5: The biggest weakness in Bednar’s game is that he is on his knees on literally every shot. Germany figured out his weakness and scored both of their goals while he was on his knees, leaving the top part of the net exposed. (see video above)