Canada Shuts Out Germany in Final Round-Robin Game

After a shaky round-robin, Team Canada ended the opening round of the 2018 World Hockey Championships with a 3-0 shutout victory over a German squad that beat them in the semifinals of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Canada only needed 20 seconds to score the first goal of the game. Connor McDavid did a good job of lifting Dennis Seidenberg's stick, sending the puck out to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Nugent-Hopkins then found Brayden Schenn in front of the net, with Schenn scoring on the one-timer just past Niklas Treutle's blocker to make it 1-0 for the Canadians.

Canada's top line would connect for their second goal just before the game hit the halfway point in the battle. This time, McDavid would leave a good drop pass to Nugent-Hopkins, one of his teammates from the Edmonton Oilers. Nugent-Hopkins fooled Treutle with a quick shot, once again beating the German goalie on his blocker side to double Canada's advantage.

Canada kept their streak of scoring one goal a period alive. At 9:48, Joel Edmundson did a great job of skating into the zone without getting attacked, waiting until he could find someone in front of the net that could do something with the pass. Tyson Jost was the right guy, getting his fourth goal of the tournament before the third period hit the ten-minute mark. Canada wouldn't push the issue much more, while Germany couldn't finish their final game with a goal, instead handing Canada a 3-0 victory on Tuesday afternoon.

With the win, Canada has secured third place in Group B and will await the loser of Russia versus Sweden, a 20:15 local time in Copenhagen. For Germany, the tournament is over, as well as Dennis Seidenberg's career with the German national team. Seidenberg never won a medal in international play but did represent Team Europe when they finished second at the World Cup of Hockey in 2016. He also helped Germany earn a spot at the Olympics after playing at the Olympic Qualifiers back in 2016, but didn't play for the team at the big event itself due to NHL commitments with the New York Islanders.

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