Matt Poitras's World Juniors experience ended a couple games earlier than anticipated, with Canada losing 3-2 to Czechia in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. It's the first time since 2019 that Canada has missed the medal round.
Canada actually fell behind 2-0 in the first period, but came back to tie the game in the second, with Poitras setting up the tying goal. The Boston Bruins rookie capped off a lengthy offensive-zone shift by setting up linemate Matthew Savoie for one chance, retrieving the rebound in the corner, and then dishing back to goal-scorer Jake Furlong.
Poitras's line, which also featured Conor Geekie (younger brother of Bruins teammate Morgan Geekie), had several more cycle shifts and chances, but none that led to any more goals. Poitras nearly set up Savoie for a go-ahead goal with 4:25 left when he carried into the zone and dropped a pass for Savoie as they crisscrossed in the high slot, but Savoie fired wide. Poitras then made a key backcheck at the other end to prevent a Czechia chance.
Heartbreak struck with 11 seconds left in regulation, when Czechia's Jakub Stancl took a shot that deflected off Canada defenseman Oliver Bonk and past goalie Mathis Rousseau for the winning goal. Poitras was on the ice and was actually the player trying to defend Stancl on the shot. If you want to be critical, you could say he maybe could've had better body position or been more physical. But the goal was really just bad luck more than anything.
Poitras finished the tournament with four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in five games, which was tied for third on the team. He was a plus-3 and played 16:26 per game, which ranked second among Canada's forwards.
Poitras did come under criticism from some Canadian fans throughout the tournament, especially after a 2-0 loss to Sweden in the group stage when Poitras couldn't get the puck out of the zone on Sweden's first goal. He's not alone in facing that criticism given the team's disappointing finish, but at least on social media, Poitras did seem to get more of it than most.
It's fair to say that most probably expected, or at least hoped, Poitras would be more dominant given that he had the most NHL experience on the team. Nonetheless, he was still pretty clearly one of Canada's best players more often than not, both statistically and by the eye test. Only Boston University freshman and likely 2024 No. 1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini stood out as a Canadian forward who was clearly better.
Bruins fans, meanwhile, may now be questioning whether sending Poitras to World Juniors was a mistake. The counter would be that it's a valuable experience for a young player regardless of the result. Poitras got to see how he needs to raise his game in big moments, and now he'll have to learn how to bounce back from disappointment on a big stage. That's part of growing up and growing as a player.
Now the question is when Poitras will re-enter the Bruins' lineup. The guess here is that Thursday's home game against the Penguins might be too quick of a turnaround with the flight back from Sweden factored in. That would mean Saturday's home game against the Lightning, or maybe even the start of their upcoming road trip Monday in Colorado.
Fellow rookie center Georgii Merkulov will remain in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Blue Jackets, with Bruins coach Jim Montgomery telling reporters in Columbus that Johnny Beecher (the third rookie center) will rotate out. It remains to be seen if Merkulov will remain in Boston once Poitras is back, or if that will spell a return to AHL Providence.
