In International competition the IIHF World Junior Championships are underway in Ostrava and Trinec, Czech Republic.
- Thursday, December 27th, 2019
Switzerland v. Kazakhstan 
In the opening game of the tournament we would see Switzerland take on Kazakhstan. In the first period Matthew Verboon would net the opening goal for the Swiss to take the 1-0 lead. Maxim Musorov would tie the game at one for Kazakhstan, but Jeremi Gerber would retake the lead for the Swiss before the end of the first period. Then in the second period Ruslan Demin would tie the game at two for Kazakhstan, but Joel Salzgeber would retake the lead for the Swiss only to have it tied up again as Musorov would net his second of the game to tie the game at three. In the third period the Swiss would get goals from Gian-Marco Wetter and Verboon (second of the game) to secure the 5-3 victory.
Czech Republic v. Russia 
In the other opening game of the tournament we would see the host country Czech Republic take on Russia. In the first period the Czechs would strike first with goals from Simon Kubicek and Jan Mysak to take the 2-0 lead, but the Russians would respond with goals from Yegor Zamula and Vasili Podkolzin to tie the game at two. Then in the second period Matej Blumel would retake the lead for the Czechs, but Zamula would net his second of the game for the Russians to tie the game at three. However, before the end of the second period Jan Jenik would score the game winner for the Czechs as they would take the 4-3 victory over the Russians.
Sweden v. Finland 
In the next game of the day for the tournament we would see Sweden face off with Finland. In the first period Patrik Puistola would break the scoreless tie for the Fins to take the 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Then in the second period Nils Hoglander would do “The Svech” to tie the game at one, but the Fins would retake the lead on a Kristian Tanus tally. Then in the third period Samuel Fagemo would tie the game at two for Sweden and send the game to overtime which would see Alexander Holtz score the game winner to give the Swedes the 3-2 victory.
Canada v. United States 
In one of the premier matchups that everyone was highly anticipating, we saw the Canadians take on the Americans. In the first period it would be all USA as Shane Pinto and Arthur Kaliyev would score for the Americans to take the 2-0 lead. Then in the second period Washington Capitals prospect Connor McMichael would score for the Canadians to begin a three goal period that would also see Barrett Hayton and Nolan Foote to help the Canadians take the 3-2 lead into the second intermission. Then in the third period Hayton would score his second of the game for the Canadians to grow their lead to two, but Nicolas Robertson and Pinto (second of the game) would score to tie the game at four. However, the projected number one overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft Alexis Lafreniere would score seven seconds after the game would be tied to retake the lead, and Ty Dellandrea would get the empty net goal to secure the 6-4 victory for the Canadians over the Americans.
