OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Team Canada’s road to gold at the World Junior Championship took a dark turn on Saturday night.
Canada’s brightest young star, Alexis Lafreniere, left the game in the second period with a left knee injury, adding injury to insult in a 6-0 shellacking at the hands of Team Russia.
The lopsided defeat, coupled with the feared significant injury to June’s projected No. 1 overall NHL pick, made this one among the worst losses in Team Canada’s 43-year history at the World Junior Championship. It was the first time Canada lost by six or more goals at the World Juniors and it was the first time Canada was shutout since tying Slovakia 0-0 on Dec. 27, 1998.
It may not have had the same game significance as Canada’s blown third period lead to Russia in the 2011 gold medal game in Buffalo, or the 6-3 loss to Kazahkstan in 1998 when Canada was gunning for a sixth straight gold medal – but it was at least in the conversation.
On this night, Team Canada’s sixth loss to Russia in the last nine World Junior games, Canada was simply run over by a Big Red Machine desperate to avoid a 0-2 start to the tournament. Canada’s loss blew the doors wide open in Group B, putting all five teams back on level footing with equal 1-1 records.
The onslaught was fast and furious with six different Russians filling the net over the first 36 minutes. Russia’s first strike came less than two minutes into the contest, a shot that bounced up into air off Nico Daws, over him and into the net – setting the tone for an ugly evening.
Daws barely lasted two minutes into the second period before coach Dale Hunter replaced him with Joel Hofer.
Daws allowed four goals on 18 shots – giving him just an .840 save percentage over his first five periods and change of the tournament – leaving a significant question for Hunter to answer in net with Canada’s Game 3 starter on Monday against Germany (8:30 a.m. ET on TSN 1/4/5).
Nonetheless, Lafreniere’s injury was the talk of the tournament post-game in Ostrava, casting a pall on a seemingly perpetually grey Czech Republic city.
Lafreniere left Saturday’s contest early in the second period after a collision with goaltender Amir Miftakhov on a take to the net.
Lafreniere, 18, writhed on the ice in considerable pain while clutching his left knee. He needed to be helped to the dressing room by teammates and did not appear to put any weight on his left leg on the way off.
An update on Lafreniere’s status was not immediately available from Team Canada. A source confirmed to TSN that Lafreniere indeed injured his left knee and that he was still undergoing testing to determine the severity.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say Hockey Canada was holding its collective breath waiting for the news.
Lafreniere was the star of Team Canada’s thrilling 6-4 win over Team USA to start the tournament, collecting one goal and three assists, including a game-saving response seven seconds after Canada blew a two-goal lead in the third period.
Lafreniere netted an impressive 70 points (and 23 goals) in just 32 games for the Rimouski Oceanic in the QMJHL before leaving to join Team Canada in early December. He even spent time with fellow Oceanic star and his boyhood idol Sidney Crosby at the start of the season, as his journey to June’s Draft in Montreal began.
Now, depending on the severity of Lafreniere’s injury, not only may Team Canada’s hopes to break an 11-year medal drought in Europe take a significant hit – but so could his stranglehold as the consensus No. 1 pick.
Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli
