World Junior A Challenge roundup: Wednesday’s burst of action

Canada West crushes Latvia

After a shock win over Latvia earlier in the week, Latvia couldn’t sustain their momentum in a 10-0 loss to Canada West.

Canada West is the only undefeated team in the tournament, now 3-0 after three games. They face last-placed Sweden on Thursday, with the Swedes still chasing their first win with time running out. Latvia’s victory over Sweden puts them in a safe position for now, but they still need to win against the United States on Friday to be in control of their own destiny.

The fun started early, as Canada took a 4-0 lead in the first period. Hudson Malinoski beat Janis Fecers on the power play at 7:13 before Ty Daneault scored a minute later, only to do it again less than 20 seconds later. Caelan Fitzpatrick ended the action of the period with a goal for his side, Daneault picking up an assist.

Two more goals in the first four minutes made it 6-0 early in the middle stanza. Aiden Fink took the lead from Liam Watkins and beat Fecers at 22:55, and Fitzpatrick landed his second less than a minute later. The Latvians changed goalkeepers afterwards, but Daneault’s hat-trick goal at 8:20 made it 7-0. He scored a fourth late on the power play, with Fink and Sam Court adding the other goals to cap a 10-0 victory.

Power USA plays the difference in win over Canada East

The United States earned its second straight win after beating Canada East 7-2 on Wednesday.

USA scored four goals in a dominating first-half effort, although it didn’t start that way. Joe Palodichuk opened the scoring at 2:28, but Adam Barone scored nearly 40 seconds later for Canada East on the power play to make it 1-1. Special teams made the difference, as Quinn Finley, Garrett Schifsky and Sam Rinzel all scored on the power play to give the United States a 4-1 lead heading into the first break.

Canada’s Matthew Cato answered at 33:09, halving USA’s lead. But goals from Maddox Fleming and Quinn Finley just 34 seconds apart picked up Canada’s momentum, making it a 6-2 game for the United States. Ryan St. Louis, son of Hockey Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis, scored the lone goal in the third period to make it 7-2