Canada Postgame: Canada, Eh-ight?

In their final round robin game of the 2018 World Juniors, Team Canada had yet another dominant showing, claiming an 8-0 shutout victory against Denmark.

An 8-0 win against the Danes is not surprising, especially considering Denmark’s status as a probable relegation team.  Nevertheless, their strong showing in today’s game suggests more positive results moving forward.

With the win today, Canada officially clinches first place in Group A.  Their 3-0-0-1 record leaves them undefeated in regulation, surpassing both the USA and Finland with 10 points in four games.

Canada opened the game on a dominant note, tallying three goals in both the first and third period.   Robert Thomas would strike first for the Canadians off this quick shot:

Brett Howden would score his first goal of the tournament with three minutes left to play in the first:

Sam Steel tallied his third goal of the tournament with just 20 seconds to play in the first, and Canada closed out the first period with a 3-0 lead.

In the 2nd, Cale Makar scored Canada’s first powerplay goal of the game.  Makar now has two goals and two assists through four games for the team.  Here’s his goal from today:

The Canadian powerplay has absolutely dominated this year.  They’ve scored 8 goals on 15 opportunities, equalling a 53.33% PP efficiency.

That’s pretty impressive.

Player of the Game Brett Howden scored his second of the game midway through the period, and Canada would head into the dressing room with a 5-0 lead against the Danes.

Alex Formenton would open up the period with this speedy breakaway goal, putting Canada up 6-0:

Goals from Michael McLeod and Drake Batherson would seal the deal for the team in the third and Canada would close the game with an 8-0 victory.

A note here: at a few WJC games this year, the Buffalo venue offered free ticket upgrades for those in the 300 level to move down to the 100s.  They definitely did not do that tonight judging by the looks of the two tweets above.

This one isn’t Canada related, but it’s still a gem:

Canada closed off their preliminary round with the victory today.  Looking ahead, the team will get a two-day break heading into the new year.  Because they clinched the top spot in group A, the Canadians will face the fourth-place team from group B (which will be decided tomorrow).  The upcoming quarterfinal matchup will take place at 4:00 pm EST on January 2nd.