Game Results

Syracuse draws first blood, and nearly hits an artery.

SYR-5
SPR-2

Syracuse Leads the Series 1-0

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 2 goals on 24 shots for the victory. Goal support is a beautiful thing.

First Periodd
SYR Barberio, (2) (Panik, Johnson), 8:40 (PP)
SYR Panik, (2) (Johnson, Palat), 9:00
SPR Drazenovic, (2) (Holden, Craig), 10:06 (PP)
SYR Brown, (2) (Wyman, Korobov), 11:26
SYR Connolly, (2) (Sexton, Taormina), 18:13

Second Period
SYR Johnson, (3) (Palat), 10:10

Third Period
SPR Craig, (1) (Holden, Johansen), 19:58 (PP)

Tyler Johnson, Richard Panik, and Ondrej Palat were the game's three stars. In the marquee matchup between the AHL's best line over the past 1-1/2 years and a very good goaltender, Curtis McElhinney, round one goes to the PTP'ers. Interestingly, all three of Syracuse's lines clicked in the First Period clock cleaning that ended Game One early on, but make no mistake, this series comes down to whether McElhinney can make enough saves to keep games close and allow Springfield to leverage the goaltending advantage they have on paper. And, to do that, he has to stop Palat/Johnson/Panik.

Game Two is tomorrow night, and with home ice advantage already stolen away, Syracuse is playing with house money. A Game Two victory possibly means a short series, and in the war of attrition that is playoff hockey, that can pay big dividends in future rounds.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Slovakia 1 vs. Austria 2 (SO)
Jaroslav Janus, Slovakia, DNP
Tournament totals: 1 GP, 0-1-0, 0 SO, 3.00 GAA, .882 sv%

Jaroslav Janus sat backup to Rastislav Stana as Slovakia went down to another minor upset, this time at the hands of Austria 2-1. Buffalo's Thomas Vanek scored the winner for the Austrians in the shootout.

Russia 2 vs. Finland 3
Vasily Koshechkin, Russia, DNP
Tournament totals; 1 GP, 0-1-0, 0 SO, 2.03 GAA, .895 sv%

Vasily Kosheschkin did not dress as Team Russia fell to co-host Finland 3-2. Ex-Blackhawks pick and current Traktor Chelyabinsk star Petri Kontiola had a pair of goals in the match to help pace the Finns.

Belarus 1 vs. Canada 4
Steven Stamkos, Canada, 1-1-2, E, 0 PIM, 2 SOG
Tournament totals: 5 GP, 4-5-9, +3, 0 PIM

Steven Stamkos had a power play goal and assist as Canada cruised past overmatched Belarus 4-1. Stamkos' linemate, Claude Giroux, paced all scorers with 1 goal and 3 points in the match.

Russia 1 vs. France 2
Vasily Koshechkin, Russia, Loss, 17/19, 2.03 GAA, .895 sv%
Tournament totals; 1 GP, 0-1-0, 0 SO, 2.03 GAA, .895 sv%

Wow. In one of the biggest upsets in recent World Championships history, France upended Vasily Koshechkin and Russia 2-1. Wow. Dallas Stars forward Antoine Roussel scored the game winning goal for Team France. Did I mention, wow?

Slovakia 3 vs. Latvia 5
Jaroslav Janus. Slovakia, Loss, 15/17, 3.00 GAA, .882 sv%
Tournament totals: 1 GP, 0-1-0, 0 SO, 3.00 GAA, .882 sv%

In a milder upset, Latvia upended Slovakia 5-3. Jaroslav Janus came into the game at the start of the Second Period and took the backdoor loss allowing 2 goals on 17 shots in defeat. Ex-Predators draft pick, Latvia captain, and damned fine hockey player, Lauris Darzins had a hat trick for the Latvians, including the game winning goal.

Sweden 0 vs. Canada 3
Steven Stamkos, Canada, 1-0-1, E, 0 PIM, 5 SOG
Tournament totals: 4 GP, 3-4-7, +3, 0 PIM

Steven Stamkos scored a power play goal that turned out to be the game winner in Canada's 3-0 blanking of Sweden. Ex-Lightning goaltender Mike Smith turned away all 33 shots he faced for the shutout for the Canadians. Stamkos is now tied with 3 others, including New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk, for the tournament lead in scoring.

USA 4 vs. Finland 1
Ben Bishop, USA, DNP
Tournament totals: 3 GP, 2-1-0, 0 SO, 3.04 GAA, .873 sv%

Matt Carle, USA, 0-0-0, E, 0 PIM, 2 SOG
Tournament totals: 4 GP, 0-0-0, -1, 0 PIM

Nate Thompson, USA, 0-1-1, +1, 0 PIM, 1 SOG
Tournament totals: 4 GP, 0-1-1, -1, 2 PIM

Nashville Predators forward Craig Smith had a hat trick to lead USA to a comfortable 4-1 win over co-host nation Finland. Colorado's Paul Stastny continued his strong tournament for the Americans, notching 2 assists in the victory. Nate Thompson assisted on Stephen Gionta's goal to round out the scoring for Team USA. Ben Bishop sat backup to John Gibson for the match as Gibson stopped 31 for the win.

Ontario Hockey League

(W1)London Knights 4 @ (E2)Barrie Colts 6
Barrie leads best-of-7 OHL Finals, 3-1

D Jake Dotchin, BAR: Did not play
Playoff totals: 14 GP, 1-4-5, +6, 25 PIM
Season totals: 66 GP, 4-18-22, E, 81 PIM
With Barrie: 28 GP, 2-6-8, -1, 42 PIM
With Owen Sound: 38 GP, 2-12-14, +1, 39 PIM

Barrie swept London in the Colts’ barn and finds itself one win away from being OHL champions. Jets prospect Mark Scheifele had four goals and an assist for Barrie to give him 10 points in his last two games. Lightning prospect Jake Dotchin did not play as he served the last game of a five game suspension for a check-from-behind. He can return for Game 5, which is Friday night in London.

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

(1)Halifax Mooseheads 7 @ (2)Baie-Comeau Drakkar 4
Halifax leads best-of-7 QMJHL Finals, 3-1

C Nathan MacKinnon, HAL: 1-1-2, +1, 7 SOG, 0 PIM, 0 Hits
Playoff totals: 16 GP, 10-21-31, +15, 10 PIM
Season totals: 44 GP, 32-43-75, +40, 45 PIM

W Jonathan Drouin, HAL: 1-3-4, +2, 1 SOG, 0 PIM, 0 Hits
Playoff totals: 15 GP, 11-23-34, +20, 14 PIM
Season totals: 49 GP, 41-64-105, +48, 32 PIM

Halifax scored six goals on seven shots in the second period to run away with Game 4 and take a 3-1 series lead. After two scoreless games Jonathan Drouin had a goal and four points. Nate MacKinnon had one and one. The series could end in Halifax on Friday night.

Note: With the Lightning picking No. 3 in this summer’s draft, it is expected they will choose either MacKinnon or Drouin with their first round pick. While that could change, we will follow both prospects for the duration of their playoff run as we did with Steven Stamkos after the Lightning won the 2008 draft lottery.