Canada Beats Denmark for First World Junior Pre-Tourney Win

Canada finished off three games in three days in St. Catharines, Ontario with a 5-2 victory over Denmark on Friday at the Meridian Centre.

Canada controlled the first few minutes of play, taking six shots before Denmark even got one. On the sixth shot, Boris Katchouk made it 1-0 after tapping home the loose puck off of a Victor Mete scoring chance, putting Canada up ahead by one on the power play early in the battle.

Canada needed a bit of momentum after dropping both games to U SPORTS earlier this week, but a 1-1 tie would not achieve that task after a period of play. San Jose Sharks prospect Joachim Blichfeld tied the game up at one apiece after his wrist shot blew past Colton Point and in, giving Denmark their first goal of the game on just their third shot.

At 8:50, Brett Howden scored on a give-and-go play that almost didn’t work. Maxime Comtois made a pass just outside the slot to Howden, who didn’t get a great feel for the disk. That didn’t stop him from having the puck bounce off a body in front, putting Canada back in the lead before the game was half over.

A scramble in front would lead to Canada’s third goal with three minutes left to go in the second. Alex Formenton, who was solid in Canada's second game against U SPORTS yesterday, knocked in a Cal Foote rebound after some relentless pressure by the Canadians, a lead that would leave Denmark desperate to put a dent into.

Denmark found a way to beat Michael DiPietro just 33 seconds into the contest. While waiting in the slot, Phillip Schultz grabbed the puck and spun around before sending a wicked fast wrist shot past the Canadian goaltender, giving Denmark a bit of life with most of the period still to play. 

Both teams were beginning to look a little tired, but Canada's talent advantage started to become obvious as the third period wore on. At 7:23, Tyler Steenbergen beat Mads Sogaard on Canada's 37th shot of the contest in close after taking a pass from Sarnia Sting star Jordan Kyrou, giving Canada the 4-2 lead. Kyrou would cap off a great game with Canada's fifth goal of the game, capping off the team's week in St. Catharines.

Canada will shift their attention to finalizing the rest of the team with two more pre-tournament games, one against the Czech Republic on December 20th and their final exhibition contest against Switzerland two days later.

Follow me on Twitter, @StevenEllisNHL.

 

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