Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson pick up wins in second World Hockey Championship games

The Canucks have two current players and two prospects at the World Hockey Championships, but just two have actually played so far.
Elias Pettersson holds off a check at the 2018 World Juniors.

The Canucks have two current players and two prospects at the World Hockey Championships, but just two have actually played so far. Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson played their second games of the tournament on Sunday, with their respective countries in good shape early in the preliminary round.

Goaltenders Michael DiPietro and Anders Nilsson, meanwhile, have yet to hit the ice. DiPietro is unlikely to get into a game, but it’s surprising to see Nilsson sit for both of Sweden’s first two games. Instead, Magnus Hellberg got his second start and appears to be Sweden’s de facto number one. Nilsson is likely to get the easier game against France on Monday.

Let’s break down the performance of Horvat and Pettersson on Sunday.

Canada dominates an overmatched South Korea

For Korea, just being here is a feat, as it’s their first tournament at the top level. They weren’t content with just showing up against Canada, however, as they came out firing in the first period. They earned an early power play and challenged Curtis McElhinney with a couple good scoring chances.

When Canada opened the scoring, it was actually against the flow of play and was a grimey goal, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins jammed in a rebound on his third attempt.

The game got out of hand in the second period, however, as Canada just started dominating. They scored two quick power play goals in the first two minutes, then added an even-strength goal less than a minute later. Canada scored six goals in the second period alone and finished with a 10-0 win.

Bo Horvat once again centred the fourth line with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Pierre-Luc Dubois, with 13th forward Tyson Jost occasionally cycling in. Jost was playing his first game of the tournament and made an immediate impact, scoring two goals and adding an assist in under 10 minutes of ice time.

Even though his line was technically the fourth, Horvat was actually second among Canadian forwards in ice time behind Jaden Schwartz, finishing with 15:17. One reason for his higher ice time is that he is one of Canada’s main penalty killers, but a bigger reason is likely that head coach Bill Peters wanted to rest his top players for the tougher games to come. Horvat even had power play time in the third period.

While Korea put up a good fight, they were clearly out-classed by Canada, who out-shot them 50 to 25. That’s with Canada easing up in the third period, only taking 8 shots in the final frame. Horvat contributed to those totals with three shots of his own.

Just three Canadian skaters finished the game without a point, all defencemen: Ryan Murray, Darnell Nurse, and Thomas Chabot. Horvat had just one point, an assist, but it was a pretty one, setting up Jost for his second goal late in the second period.

 

 

Horvat, Jost, and Dubois cycled the puck in the offensive zone with impunity prior to Horvat setting up Jost in front with the slick pass.

Horvat now has two points, both assists, through two games of the World Hockey Championships. Next up for Horvat and Canada is Denmark, who have a dash of former Canuck flavour in their lineup with one-time first-round pick Nicklas Jensen.

Sweden holds off determined Czech Republic

Elias Pettersson was held off the scoresheet for the second time this tournament and saw more limited ice time, finishing with 12:18, eighth among Swedish forwards.

With Sweden defending a lead in the third period, head coach Rikard Gronborg leaned on his older forwards. Pettersson played just 1:50 in the third, while fellow 19-year-old Lias Andersson played just 1:12.

Pettersson still had an impact on the game, however. He drew the first penalty by driving to the net without the puck. Defenceman Michael Moravcik, anticipating the pass going to Pettersson, knocked the young Swede to the ice, but the puck was nowhere to be found. The interference penalty led to the second Sweden goal, as Mattias Janmark shoveled the puck home out of a scrum in front.

Rickard Rakell was Sweden’s best player, opening the scoring with a fantastic shot off the post and in, then assisting on both of Sweden’s other goals. Sweden held off the Czech Republic after they pulled within one late in the third period, winning 3-2.

If you’re concerned about Pettersson’s lack of point production in the first two games of the World Hockey Championships, first of all, relax. It’s just two games and Pettersson has played well. Second of all, you can’t be more critical of Pettersson than he is of himself.

“I can do much better,” said Pettersson after the game via a lightly-massaged Google Translate. “I'm not quite happy with how it's gone. I lose a few too many duels, but it is what it is. I can work in this rough road. That said, it is useful for me to meet better resistance. Tougher, stronger. It is what it is.”

That phrase — “Det är som det är” — literally translates as, “It is as it is,” but I couldn’t resist adjusting it to the closest English equivalent, the hockey phrase that Todd Bertuzzi relied upon in his time with the Canucks: “It is what it is.”

According to a Swedish hockey analytics site that is tracking corsi for Sweden at the tournament, Pettersson and his linemates dominated in their first game against Belarus. Pettersson was second on Sweden with a 78% corsi percentage, as Sweden out-attempted Belarus 14-4 when he was on the ice at 5-on-5.

While he doesn’t have numbers for their game against the Czech Republic yet, the eye test suggests another strong game for Pettersson and his linemates, who seemed to spend nearly every shift in the offensive zone. When he was in the defensive zone, Pettersson looked right at home, neatly intercepting one pass to the back door in the first period, then boxing out his check and tying up his stick on a shorthanded Czech rush in the second period.

Pettersson finished with just one shot on goal, but had at least three or four other shot attempts blocked. It seems like just a matter of time before he starts getting those shots through.