MacKenzie Weegar had a goal and two assists as Canada defeated Slovenia 5-2 on Sunday at the World Men’s Hockey Championship.
Weegar had another strong game, after registering a goal and two assists against Latvia as the tournament’s curtain-raiser.
Jack McBain and Michael Carcone both had a goal and an assist for Canada (2-0-0-0). Milan Lucic and Pierre-Olivier Joseph also hit the mark.
Devon Levi saved 22 of the 24 pucks he faced in front of the Canadian net.
The Maple Leaf representatives got going in the second period, after returning to the locker room one goal behind.
“All the teams we are going to face will be ready from the start and I think our first half will serve as a good lesson for us. We can be better in the first ten minutes and start our games better,” said Joseph.
Jan Drozg scored both goals for Slovenia (0-0-2-0), who had been shut out 7-0 by Switzerland in the opener.
Goalkeeper Luka Gracnar was busy against André Tourigny’s squad and finished the game with 46 saves.
“We are continually looking to improve. Obviously our first half was not good and we have to have better starts, but I think we were much better in the second half. We have done a number of good things in terms of our game structure, which we must continue to improve,” observed Tourigny.
Canada returns to action on Monday against Slovakia.
United States 7 — Hungary 1
Nick Bonino scored twice and the United States crushed Hungary 7-1.
Rocco Grimaldi, who added two assists, Alex Tuch, Connor Mackey, Cutter Gauthier and Luke Tuch also threaded the needle in the American camp.
Cal Petersen only needed 13 saves to claim the win.
Istvan Sofron beat Petersen in the fifth minute, but it was Hungary’s only moment of celebration.
Dominik Horvath gave up 7 times in 50 pitches in a losing cause.
France 3 — Denmark 4
Patrick Russell hit the target in extra time and Denmark beat France 4-3.
Russell took advantage of a power play to complete the staging of Nikolaj Ehlers and Markus Lauridsen.
Ehlers, Mikkel Boedker and Nick Olesen also found the back of the net for Denmark. Montreal Canadiens prospect Frederik Dichow made 23 saves.
Guillaume Leclerc, Anthony Rech and Justin Addamo replied for France. Sebastian Ylonen allowed 4 goals on 21 shots.
Norway 0 — Switzerland 3
Robert Mayer was perfect in front of 14 shots and Switzerland blanked Norway 3-0.
Switzerland have yet to concede a goal since the start of the tournament, after shutting out Slovenia 7-0 in their opener.
Andrea Glauser, Dario Simion and Nino Niederraiter moved the ropes for the Swiss.
Jonas Arntzen blocked 23 of 25 pucks for Norway.
Sweden 5 — Austria 0
Jesper Wallstedt held on to 18 shots and Sweden shut out Austria 5-0.
Par Lindholm and Patrik Nemeth both had a goal and an assist for the Swedes, who also shut out Germany in the opener.
Leo Carlsson, Dennis Everberg and Marcus Sorensen also flashed the red light in victory.
Bernhard Starkbaum stopped 27 shots in front of the Austrian net.
Czechia 5 — Kazakhstan 1
Dominik Kubalik scored twice as the Czech Republic beat Kazakhstan 5-1.
Jakub Zboril, Lukas Sedlak, Jan Kostalek also blackened the score sheet for Czechia, who went unbeaten in two games.
Marek Langhamer finished the clash with 14 saves for the Czechs.
Maxim Mukhametov scored Kazakhstan’s only goal, which saw goalkeeper Andrey Shutov save 38 shots.