Miro Aaltonen, Mitch Marner and William Nylander were in action on the first day of the preliminary round at the 2017 IIHF World Championships.
Finland 3 vs. Belarus 2
Miro Aaltonen played his off wing on Finland’s top line with Valtteri Filppula and Sebastian Aho. The line combined for the first Finnish goal three minutes into the game and was really dangerous in the first two periods.
On the opening goal, Aaltonen took a pass driving the center lane towards net and put a shot on goal before Filppula set up Aho at the back post.
Aaltonen then drew a penalty late in the first period after taking a shove from behind along the boards. He played the point on the left side on the power play but rotated around and was at the net front a fair bit on the man advantage.
His best chance of the game came in the second period on a pretty passing play from the Finnish top line. Aaltonen had a great look in the slot with the goalie way out of position, but he hit the outside of the post. TSN’s Ray Ferraro remarked a few minutes later, “Aaltonen has been one of the most dangerous Finns,” and further complimented Finland’s top line. In the second period, Aaltonen directed three or four shots toward the net, one of which nearly rebounded for an Aho goal.
Some first impressions: He’s undersized and could stand to get heavier, but – like a lot of Finnish prospects – he’s hard working over 200 feet and brings both some skill and some grit to the table. He wasn’t afraid to go to the net or dig pucks out along the boards. The 23-year-old is going to have a good opportunity to show his stuff in this tournament on that line with Aho and Filppula. He showed enough to stick there after rotating onto the line in Jesse Puljujarvi’s place in the exhibitions.
Aaltonen scored 19 goals in 59 games in the KHL and was positioned on the left point on the power play, which suggests he’s got a pretty good shot, so I’ll be curious to get a better look at it as the tournament progresses.
Russia 2 vs. Sweden 1 (SO)
William Nylander played the right wing, centered by William Karlsson, with Carl Soderberg on the left. He had a couple of nice carries through neutral ice and few good dishes, as one would expect from Nylander, but it was a quiet first game from Willy overall and he wasn’t able to convert in the shootout with a chance to extend the game. I would be curious to see him play with Sweden’s higher-end offensive talent that is capable of playing the game at Nylander’s pace, but one game is one game and it is early days.
With three NHL pairs on a deep Swedish blue line, Calle Rosen did not feature in today’s game. He might get into action if Sweden rests some of their NHLers later in the group stages.
Canada 4 vs. Czech Republic 1
Mitch Marner played on Canada’s kid line with Travis Konecny and Brayden Point, which quickly earned the trust of Jon Cooper. There was lots of speed on that line and it showed well on the open ice. Marner, on the big surface, was about as fun to watch as one would expect, and he showed lots of jump — with and without the puck — in his step after some time off. His no-look pass to Konecny set up a grade-A chance that was turned aside by an excellent out-stretched pad save despite Marner selling the pass nicely. He also played on the right half-wall on the power play.
The kid line — on the ice late in what was at the time a 2-1 game — created the 3-1 insurance goal on a nice set up by Travis Konecny to Tyson Barrie pinching in from the point.
A positive start to Marner’s first-ever international tournament as a professional.
Mitch Marner feeds Travis Konecny but Petr Mrazek absolutely robbed him. #Flyers #MapleLeafs #TMLTalk #RedWings #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/gIukAVcdhy
— Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisNHL) May 5, 2017
