Team Czechia and Moose Jaw Warriors forward Martin Rysavy have enjoyed a solid showing at the World Junior Hockey Championship so far. Now they have at least a second-place showing in their preliminary round group to show for it.
Czechia rolled to an 8-1 win over Germany in their final round-robin game on Saturday, with Rysavy enjoying his best showing of the tournament in the process.
The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect scored Czechia’s fourth goal with 3:33 remaining in the second period and picked up a pair of assists for a three-point night.
Rysavy’s goal was a familiar one to anyone who has seen him play for the Warriors -- the 6-foot-3, 218-pound right winger used his size to get to the front of the net, took a feed from Kelowna Rockets forward Gabriel Szturc and tucked a backhand around the German goaltender.
All told, Rysavy would have 18 shifts for 13:13 of ice time, finishing plus-three on the night and taking four shots on net.
The win saw Czechia finish their round robin with a 3-1-0-0 record, guaranteeing at least second place in Group A pending the outcome of Canada and Sweden later on New Year’s Eve. A Canada win sees Czechia’s 10 points landing them in first place, with Sweden taking top spot and Czechia second if the Swedes should find victory.
The news wasn’t as good for Moose Jaw Warriors forward Robert Baco in his return to the line-up with Slovakia, as they’d drop a 4-3 shootout decision to Switzerland.
Slovakia built a 3-1 lead through the first two periods but couldn’t hang on, as Switzerland scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the third to tie things up.
The shootout ended up going 20 shooters deep before Rodwin Dionicio finished things off on the 10th shot for the Swiss.
Baco -- who served a one-game suspension for a cross-checking major against the U.S. -- played 14 shifts with 7:49 of ice time and didn’t hit the scoresheet.
The loss sees Slovakia finish in third place in Group B with a 2-0-1-1 record, meaning they’ll join Czechia in reaching the quarter-final round on Monday. Those match-ups have yet to be finalized as of early Saturday,
The semifinals take place on Wednesday, with the bronze and gold medal games slated for Thursday night.
You can follow along with all the scores at www.iihf.com.
