VANCOUVER 鈥� MacKenzie Entwistle may be the 13th forward on sa国际传媒鈥檚 junior hockey team, but the 19-year-old right-winger isn鈥檛 concerned about his spot in the lineup.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 really think about it too much,鈥� he said Thursday after sa国际传媒 beat Switzerland 3-2 at the world junior hockey championship. 鈥淚鈥檓 playing for my country. ... Just playing my game and that鈥檚 been working.鈥�
It was sa国际传媒鈥檚 extra forward Tyler Steenbergen who scored the winner in the gold-medal game at last year鈥檚 tournament.
That knowledge fuels Entwistle.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 really matter where you play in the lineup,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he Steenbergen goal, obviously, Canadians remember that one pretty well. That鈥檚 just a friendly reminder to just kind of stick with it.鈥�
The Chicago Blackhawks prospect scored in Thursday鈥檚 matchup, and is the only player to put up goals in both of sa国际传媒鈥檚 round-robin wins.
Cody Glass and Noah Dobson also scored in the victory, while Philipp Kurashev registered a pair of power-play goals for the Swiss.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Ian Scott stopped 15-of-17 shots for sa国际传媒.
Switzerland鈥檚 Akira Schmid 鈥� the netminder for the U.S. Hockey League鈥檚 Omaha Lancers 鈥� had 29 saves.
sa国际传媒 has two wins in round-robin play, while the Swiss have yet to tally a victory at the tournament.
Team sa国际传媒 needed some versatility in the lineup on Thursday and Entwistle is a big-bodied player who can play wherever he鈥檚 needed, said head coach Tim Hunter.
鈥淲e talked when we picked the team about having guys that are flexible and willing to embrace different roles than they normally play on their club team,鈥� he said.
鈥淔lexibility for our players was a real factor and we knew he could play right or centre and kill penalties and maybe even be a big body on the power play.鈥�
The coach juggled his lineup Thursday when the squad seemed to lose energy midway through the game.
Hunter moved Joe Veleno and Alexis Lafreniere down, saying they 鈥渄idn鈥檛 play very well,鈥� so their ice time was limited.
Veleno saw 5:19 of ice time and Lafreniere鈥檚 nine shifts totalled 6:49.
The switch gave Entwistle an opportunity to shine, connecting with Shane Bowers to score midway through the second period.
鈥淚t just seems he always finds a way to get on the scoreboard and he did that (Thursday) and it was a big goal for us,鈥� Hunter said.
Thursday鈥檚 game followed a blowout Wednesday night when sa国际传媒 trampled Denmark 14-0.
The decisive win may have gone to some players heads, said Glass.
鈥淲ith 14-0 sometimes you create bad habits and think it is going to be easy going into the next game,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut I feel like penalty trouble was probably the biggest thing in (Thursday鈥檚) game, taking penalties at the wrong times. We got out of it and came out with the win, so that鈥檚 all that matters.鈥�
Swiss coach Christian Wohlwend was impressed with how his group performed against the Canadians.
鈥淥ur team played amazing. We play against one of the best teams in the tournament and it was freaking close,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut when you don鈥檛 score 5-on-5, and we create a lot of good scoring chances, then you can鈥檛 win against sa国际传媒.鈥�
Wohlwend added it鈥檚 more difficult to ice a strong Swiss team at the world juniors than for sa国际传媒. There are simply more players in the Canadian junior system and they鈥檙e all used to playing on the smaller ice found in North America, he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just normal that you guys, that sa国际传媒 is so good,鈥� Wohlwend said.
Team sa国际传媒 will be back in action Saturday, battling the Czech Republic in Vancouver.
NOTES: Both of Switzerland鈥檚 goals came on the power play Thursday. Canadian coach Tim Hunter said the team is working on different penalty-kill combinations to get 鈥渁 more concerted effort and a little more detail.鈥� ... Swiss defenceman Davyd Barandun left the game after being hit hard by Maxime Comtois. ... A crowd of 17,102 hockey fans took in the game at Vancouver鈥檚 Rogers Arena.
00:53ET 28-12-18
