RIGA, Latvia – Andrew Mangiapane (Bolton, Ont./Calgary, NHL) scored twice and added two assists, Connor Brown (Toronto, Ont./Ottawa, NHL) had four assists and Canada’s National Men’s Team kept its playoff push going with a 7-1 win over Italy on Sunday at the 2021 IIHF World Championship.
The victory – Canada’s third in a row – temporarily moves the Canadians into a tie with Germany for the fourth and final quarterfinal spot in Group B, although the Germans have a game in hand, and Latvia could jump both teams with a win over Finland later Sunday.
“I thought we played right from the start,” said head coach Gerard Gallant. “We got the early lead in the first period and we carried it through. I’m happy with how the four lines played tonight, the defence was solid and goaltending was very good, so it was a good team effort from our group tonight.”
Adam Henrique (Burford, Ont./Anaheim, NHL) chipped in with a goal and two assists; Henrique and Brown now lead the tournament in scoring with nine points each – all in the last three games.
Taking on an Italian team that had yet to win a game and was coming off an 11-3 loss at the hands of Kazakhstan on Saturday, Canada jumped on the offence early and took a 1-0 lead when Cole Perfetti (Whitby, Ont./Manitoba, AHL) knocked a rebound past Justin Fazio just 2:33 in.
Mangiapane got his first at 8:04, making a quick right-to-left move to elude the defenceman before beating Fazio.
Troy Stecher (Richmond, B.C./Detroit, NHL) got in on the act at 11:33, going upstairs with a wicked wrist shot, and Henrique roofed a beauty backhand on the short side only 23 seconds after that to make it 4-0.
That was enough to chase the Canadian-born Fazio from the Italian net; he gave way to Davide Fadani.
The offensive fireworks quieted until the back half of the second period; Angelo Miceli finally got Italy on the board 10:31 into the middle frame, finishing off a scramble in front of Adin Hill (Calgary, Alta./Arizona, NHL), but that would the lone bright spot for the Europeans.
Mangiapane got his second off a gorgeous feed from Brown four minutes later, and Maxime Comtois hammered a slap shot past Fadani for a power-play goal to send Canada to the intermission up by five.
Brandon Pirri (Toronto, Ont./Chicago, NHL) capped the scoring late in the third period, knocking in a behind-the-net set-up from Brown.
The Canadians finished with a one-sided 49-14 advantage in shots on goal, allowing on six over the final 40 minutes.
Canada closes out the preliminary round with a must-win game against Finland on Tuesday (5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT).
“Finland is a really good team and they play a good defensive game, so the neutral-zone game will be key, and using our transition game will be a big part of our offence,” said Perfetti. “They play a strong game defensively and kind of grind you down and capitalize when you make mistakes. We just have to play our game and do what we’ve done the last three.
“Today was a big game for us to put up goals and get some confidence going into the biggest game of the tournament so far and I think the guys are feeling really good about it.”
Quotes:
“I thought we played right from the start. We got the early lead in the first period and we carried it through. I’m happy with how the four lines played tonight, the defence was solid and goaltending was very good, so it was a good team effort from our group tonight.”
- Head coach Gerard Gallant (Summerside, P.E.I.) on the team’s performance
“I think it’s the details of our game, our confidence in playing together, getting some chemistry between the lines and learning the way we have to play in order to have success. We had to take care of our own business these past three games. We’re happy with where we are and we need some help still, but we have to focus on our last game [against Finland], what we need to do to get that win and hopefully move on.”
- Henrique on the team’s turnaround over the last three games
“Finland is a really good team and they play a good defensive game, so the neutral-zone game will be key, and using our transition game will be a big part of our offence. They play a strong game defensively and kind of grind you down and capitalize when you make mistakes. We just have to play our game and do what we’ve done the last three, it has been working and been effective. Today was a big game for us to put up goals and get some confidence going into the biggest game of the tournament so far for us and I think the guys are feeling really good about it.”
- Perfetti on the team’s mindset ahead of their game against Finland
