Slafkovsky opens the 2024 World Championship with two assists

MONTREAL – The 2024 IIHF World Championship kicked off on Friday in Czechia.  

Five members of the Canadiens organization – Cole Caufield (USA), Kaiden Guhle (CAN), Oliver Kapanen (FIN), Vinzenz Rohrer (AUT), and Juraj Slafkovsky (SVK) – are taking part in this year's annual tournament.   

Here's a recap of all the action on Day 1: 

SLOVAKIA 4 – 6 GERMANY 

Following a pair of costly penalties in the second period, Slovakia managed to even the score by finding the back of the net twice in the span of 2:03. Slafkovsky’s pressure on German goaltender Philipp Grubauer earned him an assist on his country’s first goal.

In the third stanza, the Canadiens winger set up Libor Hudacek by grabbing the puck along the boards and sending it over to his teammate in the slot.

Named Slovakia’s player of the game, Slafkovsky ranked third in ice time on the team (20:01), and finished the contest with two assists, six shots on goal and a plus-2 differential.

CZECHIA 1 – 0 FINLAND (SO) 

Neither squad could solve Czech goaltender Lukas Dostal nor Finnish netminder Harri Sateri through 60 minutes of play. Overtime didn’t yield a winner either, so the game was decided in a shootout with the host nation coming out on top in a 1-0 win in front of their fans. 

Kapanen did partake in the shootout but couldn’t solve Dostal. He logged 15:47 of ice time and a shot on goal. 

SWEDEN 5 – 2 UNITED STATES 

The Swedes jumped to 2-0 and 3-1 leads in the second period, but the Americans scored twice to bring them within a goal. Ultimately, the US couldn’t make a comeback and dropped a 5-2 decision in their opening game of the tournament.   

Caufield was held off the scoresheet. He was limited to two shots and a minus-2 differential in 16:25 of play.

What’s next

Fans will have to wait until Saturday to watch Guhle and Canada in action. They will meet with Great Britain at 6:20 a.m. ET (so early!).  

Rohrer's Austria will face Denmark at 10:20 a.m. ET, while Caufield and the United States will play their second game of the tournament at 2:20 p.m. ET against Germany.  

Cover photo credit: Matt Zambonin/IIHF