Big first period powers Canada past Slovakia 6-1
VICTORIA, BC – Canada charged out to a 4-0 lead, riding early momentum to defeat Slovakia 6-1 in their second pre-tournament game ahead of the 2019 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship that gets underway on Boxing Day.
Cody Glass (Portland Winterhawks) had a goal and two assists for a second straight game while Maxime Comtois (Drummondville Voltigeurs), Jack Studnicka (Oshawa Generals), Nick Suzuki (Owen Sound Attack) and Shane Bowers accounted for other goals.
Canada outshot the Slovaks 19-7 in the first period, outdoing them on the shot clock 45-23 over 60 minutes while going 2-for-5 on the power play.
Seventeen-year-old standout Alexis Lafrenière (Rimouski Océanic) picked up a pair of assists while Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Ian Scott (Prince Albert Raiders) stopped 22 of 23 in the crease.
“I felt pretty confident,” said Scott. “I went in thinking it was just another game and I think that’s what helped. There were moments where it felt like much bigger than that. I mean, you look around and the crowd’s doing the wave and stuff like that, but after a while you just settle in and you’re fine.”
Slovakia’s lone goal came off the stick of Patrik Hrehorcak (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies), who ended Scott’s shutout bid with five minutes remaining in regulation. Goaltender Samuel Hlavaj turned aside 39 shots in the loss.
Canada wraps up pre-tournament action on Sunday against Finland in Vancouver at 10:00pm ET/7:00pm PT before opening the 2019 World Juniors on Boxing Day against Denmark at 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT.
OTHER WORLD JUNIOR PRE-TOURNAMENT SCORES:
Thursday December 20th:
United States 3, Russia 2
USA: Jason Robertson (Niagara IceDogs) – 1G
RUS: Alexander Alexeyev (Red Deer Rebels) – 1G
Friday December 21st:
Switzerland 4, Kazakhstan 1
SUI: Philipp Kurashev (Quebec Remparts) – 1G