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As always, the World Junior Championships kicked off yesterday, on Boxing Day. This year, the Canadiens have got four prosects battling it out for goal in Sweden: Canada’s Owen Beck, Slovakia’s Filip Mesar and USA’s Lane Hutson and Jacob Fowler. In Yesterday’s curtain opening day, all four of the organization’s prospect were victorious.
Even though Owen Beck is the sole returnee from last year’s Canadian gold winning team, he’s been given a rather defensive role, centering the third line alongside Nate Danielson and Owen Allard. However, the line still produced two goals in Canada’s win against Finland yesterday. Beck didn’t get on the scoresheet, but he still finished the game with a +2 rating in a little over 12 minutes of ice-time. Both goals came early in the game and weren’t scored in an empty net like Poitras’ and Lamoureux’s goals. The Canadians scored a 5-2 win over Finland and will be back in action this afternoon at 13:30 ET.
Meanwhile, Filip Mesar and Slovakia took on the Czechs in the first game of their tourney. Just like Canada, they got their first win with a 6-2 triumph over their rivals. Mesar spent over 18 minutes on the ice and finished the night not only with a +2 rating, but also with a pair of primary assists. Slovakia is currently back on the ice, playing against a resilient Swiss team, but they still lead 1-0 early in the third period.
As for the American prospects, they were facing Norway yesterday. Trey Augustine got the start in net and was nearly flawless, giving up a single goal on 23 shots, which means the Canadiens’ goaltender prospect Jacob Fowler didn’t see any action. As for Lane Hutson, he got himself a secondary assist on USA’s fourth and final goal of the game scored on the power play. Hutson walked the blueline to deport the defensive box to the right before passing to Cutter Gauthier who spotter Isaac Howard free in the slot. Howard redirected the pass between the netminder, putting the final touch to this 4-1 American win. The Americans will be back in action tomorrow at 11:00 am ET.
Today, the Montreal Canadiens will be practicing at 15:00 in Raleigh, in readiness for their game against Rod Brind’Amour’s side tomorrow. Until then, enjoy some great Junior hockey!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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