WJC Three Stars, Day 1: Sweden's Sandin-Pellikka leads by example

Now that Christmas is in the rearview mirror, we can focus on the late-December event that matters most — the world juniors! 

The annual tournament got underway on Boxing Day with a full slate of games, including a primetime tilt between Canada and Finland. Sweden, the United States, Czechia and the hosts started their tournaments in the win column as the chase for gold officially began.

If there were any early jitters, they sure didn't last throughout Day 1 — eight teams combined for 31 goals across four games on Thursday. The United States became the first to hit double-digits in the goal column, while Canada recorded the tournament's first shutout.

It's only the first day, but this is shaping up to be an exciting two weeks of hockey.

Here are three stars from Day 1 of the World Junior Championship:

Third Star: Carter George, Canada

It's no secret that Canada is coming into this tournament with a chip on their shoulder. The perennial gold medal contenders suffered a quarterfinal exit last year in Sweden and are eager to get back to the medal rounds on home ice.

That all starts with a strong first game, and Canada's dominant 4-0 win against Finland in their opener doesn't happen if not for the backstopping of young goaltender Carter George.

He wasn't overly busy through the opening two periods and faced just 11 shots by the time the second intermission rolled around. But it was the final frame that he really showed off, when Finland took to the ice one last time down just two goals and with fire under their feet.

The Finns outshot the home team 20-12 in the third period and kept Canada on their toes in the final minutes, including a four-shot power play that had the 18-year-old Canadian netminder working for the shutout.

He wasn't without his mistakes, as a puck-handling mishap nearly lead to a goal for the Fins, but his perfect outing was a reflection of his ability to recover.

For that, George earned player of the game for Canada and Day 1's third star.

Second Star: Cole Hutson, USA

When a team has an offensive outburst like the United States did on Thursday, it's hard to pick one player that stood out. In fact, seven different players on Team USA had multi-point, or multi-goal, outings against an out-matched Germany.

But no one on the squad had more points than defenceman Cole Hutson.

Of the 10 goals that the Americans scored, Hutson factored in on half of them. His five-assist night puts him atop the tournament scoring leaders, which is even more impressive considering this is the 18-year-old's first world juniors game.

His first assist came on the game's opening goal, a controversial tally that withstood two challenges. The D-man took a nice feed from Ryan Leonard and drove to the net, making incidental contact with the German netminder Nico Petruch, before James Hagens put home the rebound.

From there, Hutson and the Americans took off.

He added one assist in the second period but took off in the third, dancing the Germans as Team USA broke the game wide open. His most impressive assist came on the 10th goal, when he got a feed from Danny Nelson at the left faceoff dot, selling his shot just enough to trick Petruch before sending a no-look pass to Boston University teammate Cole Eiserman, who tapped it home on the backdoor.

Hutson, who is the younger brother of Montreal Canadiens rookie Lane Hutson, seems to possess the same familial proclivity for offence and is unafraid to join the rush and compete in deep.

Much like his brother, he fell to the second round in his draft year, going 43rd overall to the Washington Capitals in 2024.

But a good tournament can increase a player's confidence tenfold and if Game 1 is any indication, the aging Capitals should be very encouraged to have a smooth-skating, offensive defenceman in their pipeline.

First Star: Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Sweden

The Swedes were not off to a great start. 

Troubles connecting on passes, sloppy turnovers, out-competed by their opponent Slovakia … their quest to return to that gold-medal game seemed in jeopardy by the time the first-period buzzer sounded. 

Enter Axel Sandin-Pellikka. 

The Team Sweden captain led the charge in the second period to not only square up the score, but take the Swedes' first lead of the game, starting with a nifty move at the blue line to set up Rasmus Bergqvist for Sweden’s opening goal. 

Pressured by Slovakian forward Adam Cedzo, Sandin-Pellikka stopped up right in time, sending a pass around Cedzo's body to a waiting Bergqvist just atop the faceoff dot, who wasted no time in sending it past Czech goalie Samuel Urban.

Though his first goal of the game was a heavy one-timer that beat Urban easily, he relied on his wrister to complete the hat trick. He snapped his second goal of the game from the faceoff dot and his third of the game came late in the third when he sent a shot from the point after dancing across the blueline with skill akin to Cale Makar.

He's the first defenceman to record a hat trick at the World Juniors since Owen Power did so for Canada in 2021.

All said, Sandin-Pellikka finished the night with four points and factored in on all but one of Sweden's goals. He was the driving force for a Swedish team that found its legs in the final 40 minutes, but Tre Kroner doesn't win this game if not for the skill and compete of their No. 1 defender.

Honourable mentions: Potential 2025 first-overall pick James Hagens finished the game with four points for Team USA, also playing his first-ever world junior game. He and Boston College teammates Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault combined for four goals. ... Gavin McKenna, the presumptive 2026 first-overall pick, opened the scoring for Canada with a marker that proved to be the game-winning goal. Though tickling the twine just once, he was all over the ice for Canada and proved to be one of Canada's best players. ... Though Canada shut out Finland, the goalie between the pipes did all he could to keep the Fins in the game. Petteri Rimpinen made 37 saves on the 40 shots he faced, holding a .925 save percentage over a talented team.