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PORRENTRUY, Switzerland – Nick Lardis (Oakville, Ont./Hamilton, OHL) led the way with a hat trick as Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team earned its first win at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship, blanking Germany 8-0 on Friday.

• Matthew Wood (Nanaimo, B.C./University of Connecticut, HE) scored twice.
• Calum Ritchie (Oakville, Ont./Oshawa, OHL) had a goal and three assists.
• Porter Martone (Peterborough, Ont./Mississauga, OHL) tallied a goal and two helpers.
• Lukas Dragicevic (Richmond, B.C./Tri City, WHL) rounded out the scoring.
• Macklin Celebrini (Vancouver, B.C./Chicago, USHL) chipped in with three assists.
• Cam Allen (Toronto, Ont./Guelph, OHL) added two assists.
• Berkly Catton (Saskatoon, Sask./Spokane, WHL), Andrew Cristall (Burnaby, B.C./Kelowna, WHL), Ty Halaburda (Victoria, B.C./Vancouver, WHL) and Angus MacDonell (Toronto, Ont./Mississauga, OHL) had one assist each.
• Carson Bjarnason (Carberry, Man./Brandon, WHL) posted an 11-save shutout and added an assist.
• Canada outshot Germany 50-11.

Next Game:

Canada vs. Slovakia – Sunday, April 23 (5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT)

TSN and RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcast partners, are broadcasting all Team Canada games at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship. Please check local listings for details.

Quotes:

“Yesterday was tough, but the guys prepared and they worked hard. There was a lot of improvement today on our puck movement and overall structure. Special teams were good, but I liked our work ethic. Attacking in the offensive zone, using the zone to our advantage was a really big thing and we got contributions from everyone today.”

• Head coach Jeff Truitt (Rosetown, Sask./Prince Albert, WHL) on the team’s turnaround performance

“Today was important for our group. Not getting the result we wanted yesterday, we just had to hit the reset button and we had to get back on track. We forechecked really hard and played really good defence. When we [play defensively], all the chances come for us in the offensive zone so we have to keep moving that forward.”

“It was pretty cool to get the hat trick, a couple on the power play and five-on-five too. It’s nice, but credit goes to all the guys on the team finding me and making really good passes.”

• Lardis on the team’s attack mindset and his hat trick

“It’s good to get a win for our team, but we still have a long tournament to go. Everyone here is offensive, we have the ability to score and a lot of guys got on the board today. It’s a big confidence boost for the team and we’re going to try and keep it going.”

• Wood on spreading the offence around

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