SLOVAKIA 5, BELARUS 2
Slovakia: Marian Studenic
Belarus: Yegor Sharangovich
Marian Studenic got the best of fellow Devils teammate Yegor Sharangovich, 5-2, in the opening game for their respective clubs at the 2021 World Championship.
Studenic picked up an assist in 17:12 minutes of ice time for Slovakia. Sharangovich scored one of the Belarus' two goals in the contest while logging four shots and 23:01 minutes of ice time.
Studenic, who had two shots in the game, assisted on Peter Cehlarik's first period goal that gave Slovakia a 2-0 lead. Slovakia would build a 4-0 lead before Belarus scored two late goals in an attempted comeback. Sharangovich's unassisted goal with 5:28 left in regulation made it a 4-2 game.
But Cehlarik added his second of the game with an empty-netter to give Slovakia a 5-2 win.
LATVIA 2, CANADA 0
Canada: Owen Power (prospect)
Latvia picked up a shocking 2-0 victory against Canada on the strength of a goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks 38-save shutout, marking the first time in 34 games that Canada has been shutout in WM play.
Miks Indrasis and Oskars Batna scored for Latvia. Canadian defenseman Owen Power recorded two shots and an even rating in 7:58 minutes of ice time.
Next:
Saturday: Matt Tennyson, Matthew Hellickson and Team USA battle Finland at 9:15 a.m. EST. Nico Hischier, Jonas Siegenthaler and Switzerland face Czech Republic at 1:15 p.m. EST.
