Cozens’ two-goal effort helps Canada down Finland to lock up top seed
Canada is off to the quarterfinals of the 2021 World Junior Championship.
Defeating Finland by a 4-1 score on Thursday, Canada remained perfect in round-robin play, notching its fourth-consecutive win.
En route to victory, Canada once again saw a dominant performance from Buffalo Sabres first-round pick Dylan Cozens of the Lethbridge Hurricanes who opened the scoring less than four minutes into the initial frame before then icing the game with an empty netter late in the third period. Through four contests, Cozens has now tallied a team-leading 11 points counting six goals and five assists.
“It was a battle for first place and we knew it was a big game,” Cozens said. “We were fired up to get out and play and they were, too. We were all really happy with the start we had and (the first period) was our best period of play all tournament so far, but we just have to keep building on that.”
Also scoring for Canada on Thursday was Winnipeg ICE forward Peyton Krebs, a 2019 first-round selection of the Vegas Golden Knights who was named Player of the Game for the Great White North.
Canada now advances to quarterfinal action set for Saturday versus the Czech Republic as it continues its pursuit for its tournament-leading 19th gold-medal victory.