Finland-Switzerland: Filppula rules
Player notes from Monday’s World Junior tune-up match, won 4-3 by Finland on a third-period goal by Valtteri Filppula.
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Played on the first pairing with Lukas Baumgartner ... is a good, smooth skater with impressive balance ... joined in the rush more and more as the game went along ... demonstrated good puckhandling skills and was solid with the puck in the defensive zone ... awarded the second assist on his team’s first goal and created the second one ... showed off a nice one-timer from the point on the power play ... clearly the best defenseman for the Swiss.
Played on the first line alongside Kevin Romy ... scored the game’s first goal on a perfect long-range wristshot to the top shelf ... displayed a hard and reasonably accurate slapshot ... is not the fastest nor the strongest player on the ice ... seems to need some open space to operate at full efficiency ... made a couple of nice plays when he had the time … possesses good offensive skills and hockey sense ... is the captain of Team Switzerland.
Played on the second line for Team Switzerland ... looked a little weak on the ice ... his best asset is without doubt his great skating ability ... showed very good acceleration and can handle the puck rather well in top speed ... used his skating ability and was constantly bringing the puck into the offensive zone on the second powerplay unit ... despite his speed, he was not really much of an offensive threat on this night.
Played on the second pairing and was used on both special teams ... a warrior on the ice ... plays a very tough game in the defensive zone ... played primarily a defensive role in this game ... picked up a little knock during the action.
A responsible player who was centering the second Swiss line ... played a good two-way game, was usually the first forward back to help out his defensemen ... not afraid to play in traffic ... had a couple of scoring chances, but could not finish them.
Centered the first line for the Swiss team ... scored the second goal for his team ... looked quite strong on the ice ... displayed good basic skills on skating and puckhandling, although his winger Bartschi was keeping to puck more ... lost the puck a couple of times after making poor decisions ... despite the mental mistakes, he turned in a solid performance and was selected as the best player for his team.
Played on the fourth line for Team Finland ... active all game creating scoring chances ... recorded an assist on the first Finnish goal when Jyri Junnila scored off a Tukonen drop pass ... very industrious in the offensive zone, always looking to get his shot away or moving to the net in search of a deflection ... looked quite strong and balanced on his skates.
Was playing on the third Finnish line ... the most physical player on the ice tonight ... delivered some big bodychecks, especially in the first period ... did get a little knock in his hip area in the last period, which slowed him down a little ... did not play much with the puck in this game.
The best forward for Team Finland ... showed off his slick skating abilities and was always able to stickhandle the puck without losing it ... set up his winger Sean Bergenheim a couple of times, but those chances did not result in a goal ... scored top shelf for the game-winning goal in the third period, after he had chased the puck and deked a defenseman and the goalie with easy-looking moves.
Centered the fourth line for Finland ... always looked to make a pass first ... set up his linemates a couple of times, even for an empty net, but no goals were scored ... awarded a second assist on the first Finnish goal ... had some problems with his stamina, looked very tired at the end of each shift ... his skating looks even more difficult when tired ... is still not very strong even though he has bulked up a little.