Two of the Flyers’ most prized prospects got off to a winning start at the sport’s premier junior hockey showcase, as Canada took down Czechia to kick off their World Junior Hockey Championship.

Porter Martone capped off the win with an empty net goal late in the third period for his only point of the night, but took two penalties, while Jett Luchanko was held off the scoresheet in his sixth WJC game. 

The Canadians leaned on Martone in particular as one of their main offensive weapons, unsurprising given that he was named team captain earlier on in the week. He played alongside fellow prospects Tij Iginla and Michael Misa, as well as taking regular shifts on the power play, and in late game situations. 

Luchanko, on the other hand, was used in a more defensive posture more often than not, playing shifts on the PK with 2025 draftee Cole Reschny, and being relied upon for some defensive zone starts at even strength alongside the aforementioned Reschny and fellow Team Canada returnee Cole Beaudoin. 

Martone was engaged even before the puck dropped, bumping into a Czech player at center ice during the pre-game warmup. He took that aggression into the game, consistently causing havoc on the forecheck and using his size to take the right angle and cut off opposing players. He played 19:36, the most amongst Canadian forwards on the night. While he did have an overall positive impact, Martone’s night was marred slightly by two unnecessary penalties. The first was an offensive zone holding call that occurred behind the Czech net while Canada held a two-goal lead, and the second was an unsportsmanlike conduct call for this:

So safe to say, Martone was engaged in this one.

He looked dynamic alongside Misa and Iginla, spending a lot of net front as the biggest man of the three, and looking the part of a playmaking force who is a handful to deal with for many junior hockey defensemen.

Luchanko, on the other hand, was the one of the players tasked with killing the penalties. He spent a not insignificant amount of his time on ice shorthanded, and helped the Canadians kill off the three minor penalties that they took on the night. While he did get hemmed in at times, he and the penalty kill unit did ultimately keep a potent Czech power play off the score sheet. 

It was Luchanko’s five-on-five play that really underwhelmed, he seemed to struggle to really get anything going with his linemates, and despite being a part of a more seemingly defensive-focused line with Beaudoin and Reschny, Luchanko finished the game a -3. He had a couple of chances to walk in and make plays with his speed, but none really came to fruition. 

Luchanko played just 11:37, the second-least of any Canadian forward bar Liam Greentree, who was used as the 13th forward and only played 2:30 total. It was a largely tentative start for a player who entered the tournament having scored six points in his last three OHL games. His speed was noticeable, but Luchanko seemed a step behind at times nonetheless, and wasn’t really able to create anything impressive on offense besides the occasional rush through the neutral zone that just didn’t pan out. 

But there’s still a lot of tournament left to iron out the kinks, and both players will get ample opportunity to show their worth as the Canadians ramp up to try and avenge last year’s quarterfinal loss to Czechia.