WJC Postgame: Canada Survives Early Scare

Exhale, Canada. 

You weren’t really worried, but it looked a little scary briefly. Despite Canada being all over Denmark in the first period, they fell behind 1-0 12:49 into the first period. 

Anthony Beauvillier tied things up just 63 seconds later, and the teams headed into the first intermission tied at one.

Four second period goals however would prove the difference as Canada went up 5-1, finishing the game off with a score of 6-1.

Canada broke the game open in the second period, started off of a weird deflection from a Mitch Marner shot which oddly ended up being the game’s winning goal.

Two goals 51 seconds apart later in the second period from Matthew Barzal and Lawson Crouse put Canada up 4-1.

Marner decided to add a goal of his own, while Dylan Strome added a powerplay marker in the third period. Strome and Marner were separated for much of the game, and the pair combined for nine shots on net- six from Strome and three from Marner. Crouse added five shots and nearly scored in the game’s first minute, while captain Brayden Point added a trio of assists, while Leafs pick Travis Dermott had an assist on Crouse’s goal.

Marner had a number of plays where he created space for himself and others, as he’s done a great job doing that in the first game in the tournament. On a day with more luck, he probably could’ve had four points.

Despite falling down 1-0, Canada was clearly superior throughout the contest, averaging nearly a shot per minute, firing 58 pucks towards the Danish net. It wasn’t a record-setting performance, but in the words of Ray Ferraro, “they did what they had to do.” There weren’t any major defensive lapses, and they picked up a five-goal win for a crucial three points. Canada picked up just two penalties on the day, and played a relatively clean 60 minutes. 

Though Marner played an impressive game, creating many offensive chances and dangling many defenders, Barzal gets the nod from me, having impressed heavily both visually and on the scoresheet over the past two games.

Canada takes on 0-2 Switzerland tomorrow at 1 pm Eastern time. A pair of wins in their next two games could set up a very interesting three teams with 3-1 records from group A.