Slafkovsky, Kapanen, Guhle and Rohrer add to Worlds point totals

MONTREAL – Four members of the Canadiens organization were in action during Day 3 of the 2024 IIHF World Championship on Sunday.

Juraj Slafkovsky, Oliver Kapanen, Kaiden Guhle, and Vinzenz Rohrer suited up with Slovakia, Finland, Canada and Austria, respectively, each picking up points in a productive day on the ice.

Here's a recap of the day’s games:

SLOVAKIA 6 – 2 KAZAKHSTAN 

Slafkosky and Slovakia picked up their first win of the tournament on Sunday, following an opening day loss to Germany on Friday. 

The Habs forward figured on the scoresheet in the lopsided 6-2 affair, registering a secondary assist on the game’s opening tally.

P1 11:54 [1]-0 Pospisil (Nemec, Slafkovsky)

He finished the game tied with Marek Hrivik for the team lead in shots, with five over his 17:54 of ice time.

FINLAND 8 – 0 GREAT BRITAIN

Kapanen and Finland likewise got onto the win column on Mother’s Day, with the Habs prospect putting forth a performance that would indeed make mom proud.

Montreal’s 64th overall pick from the 2021 NHL Draft got Finland on the board to open the scoring late in the first, then found the back of the net twice more to complete the hat trick in an eventual 8-0 rout.

P1 16:14 [1]-0 Kapanen (Kaski)

P2 36:01 [5]-0 Kapanen (Puljujarvi, Granlund)

P3 52:57 [8]-0 Kapanen (Maatta, Oksanen)

Kapanen finished the contest tied with Jere Innala for the team lead in shots, registering six on goal despite just 12:58 of ice time, and was named Finland’s Player of the Game.

DENMARK 1 – 5 CANADA

Guhle and Canada stayed perfect in Czechia with a second win in as many days, leading the entire way to hand Denmark a first loss of the tournament.

As he did on Saturday, Guhle once again helped set up a Connor Bedard goal—this time getting credited with a secondary assist on the game’s early opener.

P1 02:24 0-[1] Bedard (Bunting, Guhle)

The Habs defenseman also registered one shot on goal with a plus-2 differential.

AUSTRIA 5 – 6 SWITZERLAND

Rohrer and Austria remain winless through two games after a late goal from Nico Hischier powered Switzerland to a 6-5 win with just 51 seconds remaining in regulation. Twice Austria held a two-goal lead before falling to the Swiss; Rohrer contributed the lone assist on Paul Huber’s goal to make it 2-0 in the opening frame.

P1 14:33 [2]-0 Huber (Rohrer)

What’s next?

Canadiens players will go head-to-head for the first time in the preliminary round on Monday when Caufield’s Team USA takes on Slafkovsky’s Team Slovakia. The Habs teammates-turned-foes will face off at 10:20 a.m. ET in Ostrava (TSN4, RDS), while Kapanen and Finland go up against Norway at the same time in Prague (TSN1).

Cover photo credit: Andrea Leigh Cardin/IIHF