Two Winnipeg Jets prospects played for Finland this evening, in the first game of the 2021 World Junior Championship against Germany, and played well.
On this wonderful Christmas Day, the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship kicked off today at Rogers in Edmonton, Alberta. The Winnipeg Jets had a lot of interest in the second game of the day as Finland faced off against Germany.
Finland features top Winnipeg Jet prospect, Ville Heinola, and the Jets’ former fourth round pick of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Henri Nikkanen. They were coming up against a Team Germany who only dressed 14 skaters, due to some players being in quarantine due to positive GOVID-19 tests.
Many people thought Finland was going to run away with this game, but Germany led by Arno Tiefensee, their goaltender, kept it close.
Finland opened the scoring three minutes into the contest and then scored late in the first to go into the locker room after one up 2-0. Both Nikkanen and Heinola assisted on the second goal and it can be seen below (courtesy of @IIHFHockey):
With 12.4 seconds to go, Aku Raty makes it 2-0 for @leijonat @ArizonaCoyotes pic.twitter.com/Gj7yTVuAPr
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 25, 2020
Heinola made a nice feed to Nikkanen, who hit the zone with speed and released a quick shot on the net. The shot forced Tiefensee to make a save, but a rebound was left open in the slot. Aku Raty was the first one to the net and slotted the rebound home.
Winnipeg Jets
Finland scored early in the second to take a 3-0 lead, but then the Germans scored two unanswered. In the final half of the second period, Finland scored twice to reclaim a three-goal lead going into the third.
Henri Nikkanen scored the fifth goal for Finland on the powerplay. Nikkanen was on the side of the German’s net and tried to feed the puck cross-crease to his teammate backdoor. Fortunately for Nikkanen, the puck got deflected off a German defenseman’s leg and then went between the goalie’s legs for the goal.
Germany scored a goal in the third, but their comeback stopped there as Finland won the game 5-3.
This was a great start to the WJC for Nikkanen and Heionla, and it is what the Winnipeg Jets organization loves to see from their prospects.
Nikkanen, Heinola, and Finland will be back in action and looking to pick up their second win of the tournament on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. Central Time against Switzerland.
Winnipeg Jets Fans: What do you think of Heinola’s and Nikkanen’s performances in their first game of the WJC? Leave your comments below!