LAUSANNE, Switzerland – Antonin Verreault (Saint-Jérôme, Que./Saint-Eustache, LHMAAAQ) led the way with two goals and an assist, and Canada scored four times in just over eight minutes in the first period as part of a 6-0 win over Denmark on Sunday at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games.
The win should be enough to put Canada in the semifinals, but it will wait for the result of the Group B finale between Russia and Denmark on Monday to confirm its spot in the final four.
Matthew Savoie (St. Albert, Alta./Rink Hockey Academy, CSSHL) and Cédrick Guindon (Rockland, Ont./Rockland, HEOMAAA) each finished with a goal and an assist, and Mats Lindgren (North Vancouver, B.C./Burnaby Winter Club, CSSHL) added two helpers.
Vincent Filion (Shawinigan, Que./Trois-Rivières, LHMAAAQ) needed to make just eight saves for the shutout.
After allowing four goals in the first period in their tournament-opening loss to Russia on Saturday, the Canadians were on the other side of the offensive onslaught against the Danes.
Justin Côté (Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que./Châteauguay, LHMAAAQ) was first on the board at the five-minute mark, streaking down the right wing and slipping a forehand five-hole on Danish goaltender Mathias Petersen.
Adam Fantilli (Nobleton, Ont./Kimball Union Academy, USHS) doubled the advantage at 9:23, sweeping a Savoie rebound past Petersen, and Verreault added a power-play goal 2:22 after that to make it 3-0.
Savoie finished the goal-scoring spurt at 13:12, taking a long pass from Denton Mateychuk (Dominion City, Man./Eastman, MAAAU81HL) and wiring a wrist shot past the glove of Petersen for a shorthanded goal and a 4-0 lead after 15 minutes.
Canada dominated on the shot clock in the first period, finishing with a 19-1 advantage.
Guindon netted the lone goal of the second period, swatting in a backhand in close, and Verreault cut through the middle before shooting back against the grain and beating Petersen over the glove to cap the scoring five minutes into the third.
Final shots on goal favoured Canada, 44-8.
Quotes:
“I think it’s been important to help get everyone on the same page; it’s really a great group, so it’s been pretty special to me to step into this role as a leader. Our group is just looking to keep improving, get better every game. I thought we had a really good bounce-back after the Russia game, and if we focus on our principles we’ll be able to keep growing.”
- Savoie on leading the team
“Everyone had some part in the points today, not just me. It really is an incredible feeling to be able to score goals in front of our fans; it’s something special for me and for the whole team to experience.”
- Verreault on his two goals
“We’re very happy with today’s performance; we built off the positives from yesterday and continue to get stronger. Today it was a real team game and we played the Canadian way. We had to be ready, and I liked the way our team responded.”
- Head coach Gordie Dwyer (Dalhousie, N.B.) on building off game by game
