Dylan Cozens (first round, 2019) and Canada opened their gold medal defense with a resounding 16-2 victory over Germany on Saturday.
Cozens tallied six points (3+3) and was named Canada’s player of the game. Fellow Sabres prospects Jack Quinn (first round, 2020) and J-J Peterka (second round, 2020) also tallied points in the contest.
Later, Ryan Johnson (first round, 2019) and Team USA rebounded from their opening-night loss to Russia with an 11-0 victory over Austria.
Let’s look at the action.
Saturday’s games
Germany 2 – Canada 16
The Canadians dominated this game against the Germans, who were playing with just three forward lines for the second time in as many nights (the result of a COVID-19 outbreak).
Cozens stole the show with his six-point outing, but Peterka scored while the game was still close and Quinn notched an early assist for his first point of the tournament.
Quinn tallied the primary assist on the game’s first goal, fending off a defender along the boards before passing to defenseman Kaiden Guhle:
???Less than 2 minutes into the first @HC_WJC is one the board! A great shift give Kaiden Guhle a perfect opportunity to put Canada on the board. #WorldJuniors@CanadiensMTL pic.twitter.com/nMFKVVJdRF
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 26, 2020
Peterka capitalized on a power play to cut a 2-0 deficit in half later in the period. The goal was his second point of the tournament after earning an assist against Finland on Christmas.
??? POWERPLAY GOAL for @deb_teams!@ John Paterka makes it a 1 goal game. #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/7PX4Q8nmPP
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 26, 2020
Cozens already had three assists by the time he sped past two defenders and scored his first goal of the night to make it a 10-1 game. He later tapped in No. 2 on the power play and completed the hat trick with a shot from in tight. Watch all three goals below.
??? @HC_WJC hits double digits! @Dylan_Cozens barrels down the ice and @deb_teams didn't stand a chance. #WorldJuniors @BuffaloSabres pic.twitter.com/A1Ek7DzlSg
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 27, 2020
Dylan Cozens picks up his second goal of the game to put Canada up 12-1. pic.twitter.com/PXfvjlqpJY
— Kris Baker (@SabresProspects) December 27, 2020
??? HATTY!!!!!!! @Dylan_Cozens nets his 3rd goal of the game and picks up the tournament's first hat trick of the year! @HC_WJC @BuffaloSabres #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/h8YO5PQ4Ry
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 27, 2020
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].