Kapanen delivers encore at 2024 World Championship

MONTREAL – Monday’s early slate at the 2024 IIHF World Championship in Czechia featured a pair of Habs in one matchup and a European prospect in the other.

Cole Caufield and the Americans went head-to-head with Juraj Slafkovsky and the Slovaks in Ostrava, while Oliver Kapanen starred (again!) for the Finns in Prague.

Here’s a recap of the day’s games:

UNITED STATES 4 – 5 (OT) SLOVAKIA

Fireworks were on display from start-to-finish between Team Slovakia and Team USA, but it was Slafkovsky and the Slovaks who got the last laugh in an emotional 5-4 overtime win at Ostrava Arena on Day 4 at the Worlds.

The European side brought a 4-1 lead into the final stanza, but the Stars and Stripes didn’t go down without a fight. The United States scored three unanswered goals in the third period to force extra time, where Milos Kelemen won it for Slovakia.

The Habs duo of Caufield and Slafkovsky were held pointless in Monday’s barn burner.

Caufield recorded two shots on goal and was plus-1 in 15:42 of ice time but was otherwise relatively quiet in his third game of the tournament. Slafkovsky, for his part, didn’t make a ton of noise in his 18:40 of action either, but registered three shots on goal, nonetheless.

NORWAY 1 – 4 FINLAND

Coming off a hat trick against Great Britain on Sunday, Kapanen delivered an encore performance with a two-goal effort against Norway.

The Finnish forward tipped in his fourth of the championship on the power play early in Monday’s opening period and added his tournament-leading fifth tally later in the game, helping Team Finland to their second win in Group A.

P1 06:49 0-[1] Kapanen (Kaski) – PPG

P2 10:59 0-[4] Kapanen (Oksanen)

Kapanen finished the game with three shots on goal and a plus-1 differential in 14:11 of action.

What’s next?

Kaiden Guhle and Team Canada return to action on Tuesday against Vinzenz Rohrer and Team Austria at 2:20 p.m. ET in Prague. Fans can watch the game featuring one current Hab and another in the Canadiens pipeline on TSN1, TSN4 and RDS.

Caufield, Kapanen, Slafkovsky and their respective teams get the day off on Tuesday.

Cover photo credit: Andrea Leigh Cardin/IIHF