It was no surprise that Thursday night’s IIHF U20 World Junior Championship Gold Medal game turned into an instant classic. By now, we all saw that Team USA captured the Gold over the Canadians thanks to Troy Terry scoring all four of America’s shootout goals in the Semi-Finals and Finals.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: World Junior games should never be decided in a shootout, which is strictly a skills competition. But that’s a completely separate topic.)
The real story for Dallas Stars fans is that forward prospect Denis Guryanov put on a show in Montreal. The former 12th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft came to play for Russia in the medal rounds, scoring two goals against the United States and the overtime game winner against Sweden 33 seconds into extra time.
Over the course of the tournament, Guryanov tallied seven points in seven games, netted two game-winning goals and finished a plus-3 on the ice with 13 shots on goal.
In the elimination rounds, Guryanov had the most time on ice for a Russian forward, averaging over 20 minutes per game.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound forward saw more ice time because of his contributions to the Russian power play that finished second behind the Americans with a 30.4 percent success.
The Star’s prospect has played well in international action the past few years. He represented Team Russia at the 2015 U18 World Junior Championships and recorded six goals and seven points in five games with a plus-3 rating.
Guryanov currently plays in the American Hockey League with the Texas Stars and leads all rookies in Austin with nine assists and 13 points through 25 games.
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It should not take long for the 19-year-old winger from Togliatti, Russia to crack the Dallas Star’s roster.
