World Junior Hockey: Jan Mysak leads the charge for Czechia

UPGRADE DAY

The World Junior Hockey Championship officially kicked off on Tuesday in Edmonton with the Group A duel between Slovakia and Czechia, where Montreal Canadiens prospect Jan Mysak led the this towards a 5 to 4 win.

The 21-year-old center player, who should play next season with the Laval Rocket, scored a goal and collected a mention of helped in the victory, in addition to leading all the Czech attackers with 21:41 of playing time.

His success came early in the third period, when Slovakia had closed the gap to a goal. Mysak deftly sliced ​​through the opposing defense before beating Simon Latkoczy with a sharp shot.

It's rare for a goalkeeper to stand out while giving up five goals, but this one faced no less than 52 throws. His vis-à-vis, Jan Bednar, failed four times on 29 shots.

The Slovaks started the game on the right foot by taking a two-goal lead, thanks to the successes of Servac Petrovsky and Matej Kaslik. The Czechs replied with four consecutive goals, but, at the very end of the duel, Rayen Petrovicky and Kaslik tied the game.

With less than two minutes to go, Gabriel Szturc showed his talent by mocking an opposing defenseman and lifting the puck over Latkoczy's glove, and the Slovaks ran out of time to respond.