WJC Day 3 roundup: Farabee hat trick leads United States past Kazakhstan

Joel Farabee (Philadelphia Flyers) scored a natural hat trick in the first period to help the United States defeat Kazakhstan 8-2 in Group B at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday.

United States center Jack Hughes, the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, was a surprise scratch because of an undisclosed injury and is day to day. The U.S. didn't need him, outshooting Kazakhstan 66-13.
Ryan Poehling (Montreal Canadiens) stepped into Hughes spot on the top line and scored a shorthanded goal and had two assists. Oliver Wahlstrom (New York Islanders), Alexander Chmelevski (San Jose Sharks), Tyler Madden (Vancouver Canucks) and Josh Norris (Ottawa Senators) each scored, and Jason Robertson (Dallas Stars) had four assists for the United States (2-0-0-0). Cayden Primeau (Canadiens) made 11 saves.
"I thought Joel Farabee was very good tonight," said United States coach Mike Hastings. "To have Poehling go back to the middle and play the game that he played tonight shows a lot about his versatility. And it was a good night for us."
Forwards Dmitriy Mitenkov and Andrei Buyalskiy, who are each eligible for the 2019 draft, scored for Kazakhstan (0-0-0-2). Goalie Vladislav Nurek started, but was replaced after two goals by Demid Yeremeyev, who stopped 19 of 24 shots before being replaced by Nurek, who finished with 41 saves.
Wahlstrom gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead 1:37 into the first period, but Buyalskiy tied it 18 seconds later before Farabee, who was selected by the Flyers with the No. 14 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, took over. The 18-year-old left wing scored his first goal on a power play at 5:15, got his second off the rush at 8:53, and finished off the hat trick after being left alone in front at 12:05.
Robertson assisted on all three Farabee goals.
"Scoring a hat trick is definitely nice, but I've got to give it to my linemates and the D getting the puck up," said Farabee. "We created a lot of turnovers, which gave me those chances."
The United States plays Sweden (2-0-0-0) on Saturday. Sweden has won 46 consecutive preliminary-round games at the WJC.
"It's definitely going to be a bit more skill, a tougher game," said Farabee. "We definitely want to end their streak in the prelims, so I think we'll be throwing the kitchen sink at them."

Russia 2, Czech Republic 1

Artyom Galimov and Nikolai Kovalenko (Colorado Avalanche) each scored shorthanded, and Russia defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in Group A at Rogers Arena.
Pyotr Kochetkov, an undrafted 19-year-old goalie eligible for the 2019 NHL Draft, made 24 saves for Russia, which opened with a 4-0 win against Denmark on Thursday.
Jachym Kondelik (Nashville Predators) scored a power-play goal, and Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks) made 26 saves for the Czech Republic, which opened with a 2-1 overtime win against Switzerland on Wednesday.
Galimov, a 19-year-old still eligible for the 2019 NHL Draft, made it 1-0 at 17:05 of the first period with a solo rush, cutting left across the slot and beating Dostal with a wrist shot the other way.
Kovalenko, selected in the sixth round (No. 171) in the 2018 NHL Draft, finished off a shorthanded 2-on-1 pass from Pavel Shen (Boston Bruins) to make it 2-0 at 14:57 of the second period.
Kondelik, selected in the fourth round (No. 111) in the 2018 draft, scored 53 seconds later on the same power play to bring the Czech Republic within 2-1 when a point shot bounced off his face, up and over Kochetkov, and into the net.