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The playoff round gets underway at the 2022 IIHF World Championship on Thursday, with Canada’s National Men’s Team, the third-place team in Group A, facing off against Group B runner-up Sweden in the quarterfinals.

LAST GAME

Coming off back-to-back losses, Canada was looking to spark its offence again in its last preliminary round game against France on Tuesday, and a 7-1 win did just that. It was a bit of a slow start for both teams, with no scoring until after the midway mark of the first period, when Travis Sanheim opened things up for Canada. Max Comtois added the eventual game-winner before the end of the opening frame. Pierre-Luc Dubois added two goals and an assist in the final 40 minutes and Chris Driedger made 18 saves to secure the win.

Sweden also wrapped up preliminary round play on Tuesday, in a tight 1-0 victory over Latvia. William Nylander had the lone goal for the Swedes, who finished just behind the Finns in Group B. Linus Ullmark made 21 saves for the shutout.

LAST MEETING

These two powerhouse nations haven’t met at worlds since 2017, when Canada suffered a tightly contested 2-1 shootout loss in the gold medal game. Victor Hedman opened the scoring for Sweden with a shorthanded goal in the last minute of the second period before Ryan O’Reilly answered for Canada on the power play early in the third. Calvin Pickard made 40 saves and Henrik Lundqvist had 42 of his own to get the game to a shootout, where Nicklas Backstrom and Oliver Ekman-Larsson counted the lone goals for Sweden.

WHAT TO WATCH

Eric O’Dell was the final Canadian to earn a point Tuesday in his second appearance. And now that the offence is rolling again, the biggest question for Canada remains in net with goaltender Logan Thompson listed day-to-day. He hasn’t dressed for the last two games after starting four of Canada’s previous five.

Sweden has been adding players throughout the event, though none more impactful than Nylander. The Toronto Maple Leafs forward has two goals in two games and adds more depth to its roster, which features 12 NHLers. That includes goaltender Magnus Hellberg (Detroit Red Wings) who has started four games and has a .931 save percentage.

A LOOK BACK

In the most historically-even match-up so far at worlds, Canada still holds the edge over Sweden in wins and goal differential in 67 previous meetings.

Prior to the 2017 loss, Canada had picked up five-straight wins, including a 6-0 quarterfinal victory the previous year en route to a gold medal. Mark Scheifele had the lone goal in the first period, while Matt Dumba, Brad Marchand and Max Domi added one each in the second. Mark Stone and Derick Brassard rounded out the rout.

All-time record: Canada leads 35-27-5 (W-L-T)
Canada goals: 238
Sweden goals: 188

GAME STATISTICS | LIVE GAME BLOG 

HELSINKI, Finland – Canada’s National Men’s Team has secured its spot in the quarterfinals at the 2022 IIHF World Championship after defeating France 7-1 in its final preliminary-round game on Tuesday.

• Pierre-Luc Dubois (Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Que./Winnipeg, NHL) led the offence with two goals and an assist.
• Dylan Cozens (Whitehorse, Y.T./Buffalo, NHL) chipped in with a goal and two helpers.
• Eric O’Dell (Ottawa, Ont./Dynamo Moscow, KHL) scored his first IIHF World Championship goal on a breakaway.
• Max Comtois (Longueuil, Que./Anaheim, NHL), Zach Whitecloud (Brandon, Man./Vegas, NHL) and Damon Severson (Melville, Sask./New Jersey, NHL) rounded out the scoring.
• Drake Batherson (New Minas, N.S./Ottawa, NHL) contributed four assists.
• Chris Driedger (Winnipeg, Man./Seattle, NHL) made 15 saves.
• Canada outshot France 35-16.

Next Game:

Canada vs. Sweden (quarterfinal) – Thursday, May 26 (9:20 a.m. ET/6:20 a.m. PT)

TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will continue their extensive coverage of the 2022 IIHF World Championship, with TSN broadcasting four quarterfinals, both semifinals, and the bronze and gold medal games. RDS will air two quarterfinals, including Canada’s quarterfinal against Sweden, as well as both semifinals, and the bronze and gold medal games.

Quotes:

“I liked the way we played for the full 60 minutes tonight. We did the things we needed to do and improved on some of the aspects of our game we wanted to focus on. We were moving the puck a lot better, getting more shots and we had net-front traffic, and I am happy with the way our guys responded today. No matter who we were going to match up against in the quarterfinals, we knew we would be getting a tough opponent. We are going to need to be patient against Sweden, but we know we have the character and our players are ready for the challenge.”

- Head coach Claude Julien (Orleans, Ont.) on tonight’s performance and the quarterfinals

“We are happy with the way we played tonight. We do not want to give other teams opportunities to score or expose us defensively, and that was a focus tonight. We do not need to trade scoring chances with other teams all game, but rather limit the scoring chances they get and capitalize on our own. We are confident in our team and the players we have, and we need to play our game and play the right way to have success now that a medal is on the line.”

- Dubois on capitalizing on scoring chances

“It is going to be an amazing game. [Sweden] is obviously a very skilled team and they work hard, and they have some good NHL players. It is going to be a lot of fun, but from our perspective we are scoring some goals and gaining confidence, and that is a key for our success. We are really looking forward to the challenge on Thursday.”

- Cole Sillinger (Regina, Sask./Columbus, NHL) on playing Sweden in the quarterfinals

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Men’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow through social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

GAME STATISTICS | LIVE GAME BLOG 

HELSINKI, Finland – Despite a late third period goal, Canada’s National Men’s Team’s comeback effort was cut short as it dropped its second-consecutive game at the 2022 IIHF World Championship, falling to Denmark 3-2 on Monday.

• Max Comtois (Longueuil, Que./Anaheim, NHL) opened the scoring for Canada just over two minutes into the second period.
• Ryan Graves (Yarmouth, N.S./New Jersey, NHL) brought Canada within one on a late third period blast from the point.
  • Adam Lowry (Calgary, Alta./Winnipeg, NHL), Damon Severson (Melville, Sask./New Jersey, NHL) and Pierre-Luc Dubois (Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Que./Winnipeg, NHL) chipped in with one assist apiece.
  • Chris Driedger (Winnipeg, Man./Seattle, NHL) made 13 saves.
  • Canada outshot Denmark 25-16.

Next Game:

Canada vs. France – Tuesday, May 24 (1:20 p.m. ET/10:20 a.m. PT)

TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast 64 and 33 games, respectively; check local listings for details.

Quotes:

“It is important for us to realize that every team is going to play their best against us. We may not have been as prepared as we should have been in the first period, and we fell behind 2-0 and had to play catch-up. We played really well in the second period, but penalties took a bit of momentum away from us. In the third period, the Danes were playing desperate and were blocking shots and getting in shooting lanes because they wanted to win so badly. It is important for us to start taking that approach as well if we intend on being champions at the end of this tournament. We need a little more desperation from our group, which I know we have, and we will be fine.”

- Head coach Claude Julien (Orleans, Ont.) on today’s loss

“We did not capitalize on our chances, and our play with the puck was not as good as it needs to be. [Denmark] took advantage of their opportunities, and we had some good chances to score but we were not able to take advantage. [Denmark] was opportunistic when they needed to be, but we did not do a good enough job managing the puck. We need to play hard and simple tomorrow. We have to play a hard-nosed game, and get to the dirty areas to score goals from rebounds and deflections.”

- Graves on taking advantage of scoring opportunities and managing puck possession

“We have to give [Denmark] credit. They played a good game and were really good defensively, but we need to find ways to score goals, and battle in front of the net to give ourselves scoring chances. We need to regroup now. We have another game tomorrow, so we will look at the video and look at what we can do better. We need to come ready to play tomorrow because the tournament is not over.”

- Nicolas Roy (Amos, Que./Vegas, NHL) on today’s game and preparing for France

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Men’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow through social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Canada’s National Men’s Team finishes the preliminary round Tuesday in a position it didn’t expect; needing a win to absolutely secure a spot in the quarterfinals at the 2022 IIHF World Championship.

LAST GAME

Canada fell behind early and, despite getting close, couldn’t find the tying goal as it dropped its second in a row, 3-2 to Denmark. Max Comtois scored early in the second period to halve the Danish lead and Ryan Graves made it a one-goal game again late in the third, but that would be as close as the Canadians got. Chris Driedger made 21 saves between the pipes for Canada.

France surprisingly jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Switzerland before falling 5-2 to the Group A leaders on Sunday. Alexandre Texier and Valentin Claireaux had the two first-period goals for France and Sebastian Ylonen made 12 saves to take that lead. But Switzerland answered 25 seconds into the second period, tied it around the 12-minute mark and had the lead before the middle frame was done.

LAST MEETING

Canada and France last met at the worlds in 2019, a 5-2 win for Canada – its fourth-straight victory against the French. Canada jumped out to a 3-0 lead (from Anthony Mantha, Darnell Nurse and Anthony Cirelli) in the first period, but France answered back with goals in the second and third period to cut the lead to 3-2. Mantha and Mark Stone added insurance markers midway through the third and Carter Hart made 21 saves to secure the win.

WHAT TO WATCH

Slow starts continue to plague Canada, as it has given up the first goal in three of its six games, including two of the last three. It is also coming off back-to-back losses – meaning the match-up against France has playoff implications. As long as Canada can secure at least a single point against France, even a regulation win from Slovakia will not be enough to knock out the defending champions from the playoff picture.

France is out of contention for a playoff spot and isn’t in danger of relegation, so realistically, this team is playing for pride and little else. But as we’ve heard time-and-again, teams will always bring their A-game against Canada. France will be rested and features one of the top goaltenders in the tournament in Henri Corentin Buysse, who owns a .931 save percentage in four games.

A LOOK BACK

Canada and France have played 14 times at the worlds, with Canada holding the clear advantage – 12 wins and a plus-64 goal differential.

France has made things more interesting in recent years. It’s most recent win came in 2014, a 3-2 shootout victory, and in 2017 the Canadians came from behind for a 3-2 prelim win. Ryan O’Reilly counted in the first period and Claude Giroux tied the game in the last minute of the second before Marc-Edouard Vlasic won it for Canada early in the third.

All-time record: Canada leads 12-2-0 (W-L-T)
Canada goals: 85
France goals: 21

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Canada’s National Men’s Team looks to secure a spot in the quarterfinals and bounce back after its first loss at the 2022 IIHF World Championship when it faces off against Denmark on Monday.

LAST GAME

Canada and Switzerland played in one of the most entertaining games of the tournament in a battle for top spot in Group A on Saturday – a 6-3 loss for the Canadians. Kent Johnson, Adam Lowry (shorthanded) and Drake Batherson scored in the first period for Canada, but the Swiss answered within two minutes every time, sending the teams to the dressing room tied 3-3 after an entertaining 20 minutes. That would be it for scoring, as the Swiss netted the winner in the second period and added a pair of insurance markers in the third.

Denmark last saw action against France on Saturday, picking up a big 3-0 win that put it in sole possession of fourth place in Group A. Peter Regin scored for Denmark in the first period, and that stood up as the game-winning goal thanks to a 19-save performance from Sebastian Dahm. Joachim Blichfeld and Julian Jakobsen also scored for the Danes.

LAST MEETING

It’s been three years since these teams met at the worlds, a 5-0 win for Canada in Kosice, Slovakia. Pierre-Luc Dubois opened the scoring exactly one minute into the game, followed by Jared McCann and Jonathan Marchessault to round out the opening 20 minutes. Sam Reinhart added goals in the second and third for good measure, while Carter Hart and Mackenzie Blackwood shared the shutout with 24 saves.

WHAT TO WATCH

Canada easily kept pace in the fiery first period against the Swiss, but as the game slowed, so did the Canadian scoring chances. Special teams were a major factor – Canada was 0-for-3 on the power play and gave up two power-play goals (though Lowry scored shorthanded). Look for special teams to be a focus for Canada going forward.

Denmark may be in fourth place for now, but it’s anything but secure with games against Canada and Slovakia remaining. The Danes were blown out by the Swiss and lost a tight one to the Germans, but can be in control of their own fate. A win over Canada would go a long way in securing a spot in the quarterfinals.

A LOOK BACK

There have only been seven previous meetings between Canada and Denmark at the worlds, though the first of all those still stands as a historical record for Canada.

The first ever game between these teams in 1949 ended in a 47-0 win for Canada. That remains record for most goals in a game, with a 33-0 victory over Belgium the following year as the second-highest total. More recently, a 7-1 win in 2018 saw Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice and Connor McDavid add three helpers.

All-time record: Canada leads 6-0-1 (W-L-T)
Canada goals: 75
Denmark goals: 8

GAME STATISTICS | LIVE GAME BLOG 

HELSINKI, Finland – Canada’s National Men’s Team recorded its first loss and dropped to second place in the Group A standings at the 2022 IIHF World Championship after falling to Switzerland 6-3 on Saturday.

• Kent Johnson (Port Moody, B.C./Columbus, NHL) opened the scoring just past the midway mark of the first period.
• Adam Lowry (Calgary, Alta./Winnipeg, NHL) scored on a short-handed breakaway in the opening frame.
• Drake Batherson (New Minas, N.S./Ottawa, NHL) rounded out the scoring.
• Mathew Barzal (Coquitlam, B.C./New York Islanders, NHL) chipped in with a pair of assists and Ryan Graves (Yarmouth, N.S./New Jersey, NHL) contributed one assist.
• Logan Thompson (Calgary, Alta./Vegas, NHL) made 21 saves.
• Switzerland narrowly outshot Canada 26-25.

Next Game:

Canada vs. Denmark – Monday, May 23 (1:20 p.m. ET/10:20 a.m. PT)

TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast 64 and 33 games, respectively; check local listings for details.

Quotes:

“[Switzerland] works hard, and they are difficult to play against. The Swiss have been playing well so far in this tournament and they showed it again tonight. Our special teams play was not great today. We did not score on the power play, we did not do a great job on the penalty kill, and that kind of dug us into a hole. We had a five-minute power play that we did not capitalize on, and that kind of thing can come back to haunt you later in the game.”

- Head coach Claude Julien (Orleans, Ont.) on today’s loss

“It is always disappointing to lose, but I think in the long run it will be a good learning experience for our team. We always want to win every game, but it did not go our way today. Moving forward, I think this is going to help us come ready to play next game and we will be hungry to get back in the win column. I play with two guys [Barzal and Johnson] who like to make plays, and I am the same way. I have been trying to create space, and both those guys have a ton of skill, so I think we can have a big impact and help the team win.”

- Batherson on learning from the loss and playing with Barzal and Johnson

“We have not had a crowd this big since we started this tournament, and it is a lot of fun to play in front of these fans. It does not really matter if they are cheering for us or for the Swiss, it was a great environment in arena. We had some power plays that we could not capitalize on, and that could have helped control the energy in the building. We made some mistakes that led to goals, but we need to give [Switzerland] credit because they are a good team. This is a bit of a wake-up call for us, but we will come back against Denmark and play a good game.”

- Barzal on the Swiss fans and rebounding against Denmark

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Men’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow through social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For Cole Sillinger, being named to Team Canada just shy of his 19th birthday was the icing on the cake for an impressive rookie season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. But what made it all the sweeter, was knowing he achieved the honour 10 years earlier in his career than his famous father.

And Mike couldn’t be prouder.

“He’s way ahead of the game, playing in the NHL at the age of 18 and having a chance to represent his country at the worlds,” Mike said on the day the team’s roster was announced. “We’ll be watching, we don’t care what time the game is, we’ll be watching.”

This is the second time the youngest of the three Sillinger boys has been named to a Canadian roster for a world championship, though only the first time he’s been able to play. Last year, a late COVID-19 diagnosis forced him away from Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team, which ultimately went on to win a gold medal at the IIHF U18 World Championship in Texas.

So when Rick Nash, Canada’s assistant general manager – and director of player development with the Blue Jackets – offered Cole a spot on the worlds team during his NHL season exit meeting, he jumped at the chance.

“[Nash] said I didn’t have to give him my answer right away, but I gave it to him right away because obviously anytime that you have a chance to represent Canada, you’re going to want to do it and do it proudly,” Cole explains.

“Anytime you get a chance to represent your country, it’s something that you really look forward to,” Mike said. “It’s a great chance to meet new guys and build that camaraderie while playing for that flag on the front of your jersey.

“It’s pretty awesome.”

The 2000 version of Team Canada finished just shy of a medal, falling 2-1 to Finland in the bronze medal game. Mike had three goals in nine games as captain.

In the first four games of the 2022 event, Cole has already distinguishing himself as a goal scorer, having found the back of the net twice. Though even with that early success, he doesn’t think there will much joking with his dad until the games are done, knowing his father earned a gold medal at the 1991 IIHF World Junior Championship.

“I don’t think there is any chirping going to be done until I have a chance to [win a gold medal],” he laughs. “[Mike is] amazing, I’ve had so much support from him and one of the things I’ve appreciated about him is, just because he had his career, he understands there’s no extra doors open for my brothers and me and it’s just time for us to create our own path.”

Mike’s career spanned 1,049 games over 18 NHL seasons with 12 teams. Sillinger’s older brothers, Owen and Lukas, have had success in the NCAA, and Owen finished the season with the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League.

The Sillinger home clearly was – and is – a hockey house. Though Cole says hockey didn’t come first in his childhood home, competition did.

“Whether it was golf or working out or even just who is going to eat dinner first, we’re super competitive,” he explains.

“Cole is just very driven and is mature beyond his age and obviously that comes from being around his brothers and a team environment,” Mike said. “I didn’t think he’d get a chance [to play for Canada] right away at the age of 18 but he had a pretty good year, and it takes different pieces to build a team and he can play in different situations.”

“For me, I just want to help the team anyway I can,” Cole says. “I think that’s the goal when you put the Maple Leaf on is to forget about where you played on your club team and … just leave your ego at the door and do anything you can to help win.”

Which is the ultimate goal of this event for Canada and Cole, come home with a gold medal. That way, he’ll already be even in the medal count with his dad and still have a long career in which to surpass him.

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Only two teams remain undefeated in Group A at the 2022 IIHF World Championship, and they’ll go head-to-head on Saturday with first place on the line when Canada’s National Men’s Team faces off against Switzerland.

LAST GAME

Canada did not have the start it wanted against Kazakhstan, falling behind 1-0 less than three minutes in, but the Canadians stuck to it and pulled out the 6-3 win to improve to 4-0 . Dylan Cozens – on his way to a hat trick – responded just over a minute after the opening goal, and Drake Batherson and Adam Lowry put Canada ahead before the end of the first period. The game calmed significantly in the second and third periods and Canada remained in control, thanks in part to great play from netminder Logan Thompson, who made 16 saves in the win.

Switzerland has played in some tight games this week, but its 5-3 victory over Slovakia was the toughest. Denis Malgin added an goal and an assist to his tournament totals and Pius Suter had three helpers for the Swiss, who couldn’t seem to put distance between themselves and pesky Slovaks, despite a 30-16 advantage in shots on goal.

LAST MEETING

Canada and Switzerland last played at worlds in 2019, a thrilling 3-2 overtime win for the Canadians in the quarterfinals. Damon Severson, who is back for Canada this year, tied the game with less than a second to play and Mark Stone buried the winner 5:07 into the extra frame. Matt Murray made 22 saves for Canada, while Swiss goaltender Leonardo Genoni (who is backstopping Switzerland again this year) made 39 stops.

WHAT TO WATCH

Canada has had a few slow starts and likely can’t take that risk against the Swiss. But with the depth scoring Canada has displayed, it will have lots of chances to get out to an early lead. Cozens’ hat trick was a signal the Canadians can be dangerous at any time, but the real bonus was two of those three goals coming on the power play. If Canada is really starting to connect with the man advantage, opposition teams should be careful to stay out of the box.

Switzerland has easily been one of the best teams in Group A. It has a plus-12 goals differential and has yet to trail in any of its four games. It also boasts the tournament scoring leader in Malgin (4-4—8), but there hasn’t been a lot of balanced scoring, with four players accounting for more than half the Swiss goals. Defensive consistency in the third period has also been an issue, as the Swiss have given up five of seven goals in the final frame.

A LOOK BACK

Canada and Switzerland have met more than 30 times at worlds, and though the games often end in Canada’s favour, they are often only won by a single goal.

In the last six meetings, Canada and Switzerland have finished with a 3-2 score five times. The lone deviation from that was a 7-2 win for Canada in 2015. Tyler Seguin and Nathan MacKinnon had Canada up 2-1 after the first period before Aaron Ekbald, Jordan Eberle and Cody Eakin put the game away for good in the second.

All-time record: Canada leads 26-4-2 (W-L-T)

Canada goals: 167

Switzerland goals: 51

GAME STATISTICS | LIVE GAME BLOG 

HELSINKI, Finland – After a delayed puck drop due to a small fire at the Helsinki Ice Hall, Canada’s National Men’s Team maintained its perfect record at the 2022 IIHF World Championship after doubling up on Kazakhstan 6-3 on Thursday.

• Dylan Cozens (Whitehorse, Y.T./Buffalo, NHL) opened the scoring for Canada and added a pair of power play goals in the third period to complete the hat trick.
• Damon Severson (Melville, Sask./New Jersey, NHL) and Drake Batherson (New Minas, N.S./Ottawa, NHL) contributed a goal and two assists apiece.
• Adam Lowry (Calgary, Alta./Winnipeg, NHL) rounded out the scoring.
• Ryan Graves (Yarmouth, N.S./New Jersey, NHL) and Kent Johnson (Port Moody, B.C./Columbus, NHL) chipped in with two assists each.
• Logan Thompson (Calgary, Alta./Vegas, NHL) made 16 saves.
• Canada outshot Kazakhstan 37-19.

Next Game:

Canada vs. Switzerland – Saturday, May 21 (9:20 a.m. ET/6:20 a.m. PT)

TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast 64 and 33 games, respectively; check local listings for details.

Quotes:

“We know there are not going to be any easy games in this tournament, and we expected a tough test from Kazakhstan tonight. Obviously, it was a unique night with the delayed puck drop and a later game, but that is something out of our control. At the end of the day, I think of guys responded well to the situation, especially when we found ourselves trailing early on and we were able to battle back through a bit of adversity. I am happy we were able to fight to get this win, and now we need to focus on another tough game against Switzerland on Saturday.”

- Head coach Claude Julien (Orleans, Ont.) on tonight’s win

“A few of the goals I just happened to get myself in a good position or my teammates were able to make good plays to get me the puck. It is always good to be able to contribute offensively, and I am glad I was able to do my part tonight. Right now, we are getting a lot of different guys scoring and helping out at both ends of the ice, and that is why we have been able to find success early in this tournament.”

- Cozens on his hat trick

“We have started off the tournament really well. We all know this is a long tournament and it takes ten games to win a gold medal, but we are only at game four. It feels like we have been here for a long time already, but our team has developed a lot of good chemistry and we need to keep improving every game. Regardless of who our opponent is, we need to make sure we are getting better because in less than a week our games could be the difference of playing for a medal or going home.”

- Pierre-Luc Dubois (Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Que./Winnipeg, NHL) on the team’s 4-0 start

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Men’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow through social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Canada’s National Men’s Team hasn’t started 4-0 at the IIHF World Championship since 2017, but has an opportunity to do as preliminary-round play in Group A continues Thursday against Kazakhstan.

LAST GAME

In its biggest test so far, Canada prevailed 5-1 over Slovakia on Monday. Adam Lowry opened the scoring at the midway mark of the opening period, but the Slovaks responded just over two minutes later on a power play. The momentum shifted a little in Canada’s favour in the second, putting up 18 shots and two more goals (both from Pierre-Luc Dubois). Cole Sillinger and Morgan Geekie each added a goal in the final frame.

Kazakhstan went into its Tuesday morning meeting with Switzerland one of two teams still without a point, and it remained that way following a 3-2 loss. The Kazakhs were outshot 43-14 but made things interesting in the third period, getting goals from Jesse Blacker and Valeri Orekhov.

LAST MEETING

The Kazakhs were part of the Canadian comeback a year ago in Riga; Canada improved its record to 2-3 in the prelims with a 4-2 win, Andrew Mangiapane and Adam Henrique gave the Canadians a two-goal lead early in the second period, but Kazakhstan equalized early in the third. Cole Perfetti provided the game-winner with 12:20 left, and Connor Brown found the empty net in the dying seconds to secure the three points.

WHAT TO WATCH

Logan Thompson’s performance in his first international tournament has been impressive, raking third in save percentage (.929) through two appearances. Team chemistry is clearly on the rise, with Canada leading the tournament in scoring efficiency and posting the best power play as of the end of play on Tuesday. Dubois is among the scoring leaders, co-leading in goals scored (four) and tied for third in points (five).

Simply put, the Kazakhs have struggled. They rank 16th among 16 teams in scoring efficiency (four goals on 67 shots), 16th in power play (0 for 6), 16th in penalty kill (five PP goals against in 11 chances) and 15th in save percentage (.864). They do, however, lead the tournament in shorthanded goals, scoring two of their four goals while a man down.

A LOOK BACK

Canada and Kazakhstan have only played twice at worlds, including the game last year, as mentioned above.

The only other meeting was 10 years ago, an 8-0 win for Canada. Dion Phaneuf scored twice, Corey Perry had a goal and an assist, and Duncan Keith and Ryan Getzlaf had three helpers apiece for Canada, which scored five times in the third period. Devan Dubnyk stopped all 24 shots he faced for the shutout.

All-time record: Canada leads 2-0
Canada goals: 12
Kazakhstan goals: 2