GAME STATISTICS | LIVE GAME BLOG

MONCTON, N.B. – Six different skaters scored as Canada's National Junior Team earned its second-consecutive pre-tournament win ahead of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, defeating Slovakia 6-1 on Wednesday night.

• Joshua Roy (Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, Que./Sherbrooke, QMJHL) and Brennan Othmann (Pickering, Ont./Peterborough, OHL) scored six seconds apart to start the third period.
• Colton Dach (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta./Kelowna, WHL), Brandt Clarke (Nepean, Ont./Los Angeles, NHL), Zach Dean (Mount Pearl, N.L./Gatineau, QMJHL) and Dylan Guenther (Edmonton, Alta./Arizona, NHL) rounded out the scoring.
• Caedan Bankier (Surrey, B.C./Kamloops, WHL) and Shane Wright (Burlington, Ont./Seattle, NHL) contributed two assists each.
• Benjamin Gaudreau (Corbeil, Ont./Sarnia, OHL) made 16 saves.
• Canada outshot Slovakia 48-17.

Next Game:

Canada vs. Finland (pre-tournament) – Friday, Dec. 23 (7:30 p.m. AT/6:30 p.m. ET)

TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will provide extensive coverage of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, broadcasting all 31 tournament games, as well as all three Team Canada pre-tournament games. TSN Radio will also provide comprehensive tournament coverage.

Quotes:

“We managed the puck better tonight, but we were a little loose at times. We did not have a strong first period, but we were able to reset for the second and we came out and played a much harder and Canadian style. We had a lot more chances in the second and third periods, and we probably could have scored a few more goals if not for [the Slovak] goalie.”

-      Head coach Dennis Williams (Stratford, Ont./Everett, WHL) on the team’s strong second and third periods

“I thought we played better tonight and were able to improve on a few areas. We were sharper with our decision-making, but there are still some kinks to work out ahead of the tournament. That is expected when you come together in these events, everyone is trying to adjust to new systems and playing with different players, but I think we took some steps forward today and we are going to keep improving every game.

“All the support from the fans in Moncton has been incredible. They have been cheering us on since we got here, and as players we love that. It is nice to be on home soil and have Canadian fans cheering us on. It was a nice touch to be able to say thank you to the fans at the end of the game, and we just wanted to let the fans know how much we appreciate the support.”

-      Wright on improving ahead of the tournament and addressing the fans in Moncton

“We need to keep playing the right way. When we all buy in to our systems and everyone is playing connected, we are going to be able to find success. You could see the difference between the first and second period, and if we play like that the whole tournament, we are going to give ourselves a good chance to compete for gold.”

-      Guenther on playing connected to find success

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Junior Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along through social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and by using #WorldJuniors.