Canada unleashed a 5-0 thrashing 🙄 on France, seizing the throne of Group A. Tied with Sweden at a flawless 3-0, the Canadians flex their edge with a superior goal differential. France, stuck in a rut, languishes in seventh with a grim 0-0-1-2 record, scraping by with a single point, just above Slovenia. France played awesome all things considering though. I was quite impressed it wasn’t a bigger blowout. They were a fun team to watch.
The French squad, bruised but unbowed, faces a quick turnaround, battling Slovakia tomorrow afternoon. Meanwhile, Canada gets a breather, sharpening their blades for Austria on Thursday. Jordan Binnington, fresh off a stellar 6-0-2 run at last year’s IIHF Worlds and a triumph at the 4 Nations Face-Off, stepped into the crease for his tournament debut. Cool as ice, he swatted away all 15 shots, etching his name in the record books with his first-ever Team Canada shutout in IIHF action. Unlike France’s soccer team their hockey team actually has French guys on it, but not the Quebec kind.
New York Islanders Bo Horvat gets his third goal of the tournament to make it a 1-0 game at 6:32 of the first period with the assists on the goal going to Tyson Foerster.–the Canadians opened the scoring after a French turnover in their own end. Tyson Foerster skated out of the corner with the disc and found Bo Horvat in front, and he snapped his third goal of the tournament past Julian Junca at 6:32.
New York Rangers Will Cuylle snipes a goal at 12:11 of the first period with the assist going to Kent Johnson and Ryan O’Reilly.– Less than six minutes later, they doubled their lead on another pass-shot combination. This time it was Kent Johnson off the rush finding Wilf Cuylle in front. It came after France’s best sequence in the Canadian end, but Binnington made one nice save and the defence cleared out the others. Then, Cuylle upped the lead.
Shots in the first period were 14-6 for Canada.
Sidney Crosby makes it a 3-0 game on the Power Play, roofing it to the top shelf at 17:31 of the second period with the assist on the goal going to Brandon Montour.-With the clock winding down on PP Time, Canada turned up the heat, cashing in on a power play to make it 3-0. Sidney Crosby, weaving out of the corner like a magician, unleashed a laser that threaded an absurdly tight window—right over Junca’s shoulder, kissing the net just inches from the goalie’s mask. Pure wizardry.
Shots on goal in the second period were 10-4 for Canada
Bo Horvat gets his second of the game to make it 4-0 Canada at 3:57 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Travis Konecny and Nathan MacKinnon.–Horvat got his second of the night and tournament-leading fourth, converting a quick pass with an equally quick release.
Brandon Montour makes it a 5-0 game for Canada at 11:05 of the third period with the assists on the goal going to Utah Mammoth’s Barrett Hayton and Saskatoon native Brayden Schenn.–Montour made it 5-0 when his long shot bounced high in the air off Junca and rolled into the net at 11:05.
Canada outshot France 12-5 in the third period and 36-15 in the game.
For Canada Jordan Binnington stopped all 15 shots that he faced for the shutout win. For France Julian Junca made 31 saves on the 36 shots that he faced. Junca played with the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL a few seasons ago before going to Slovakia where he currently plays.
Player of the game for France was former Philadelphia Flyer Pierre-Édouard Bellemare. Bellemare has been teammates with numerous players on team Canada in the NHL. For Canada the player of the game was Bo Horvat.
Attendance in Stockholm was 4124
Canada’s next game is Wednesday May 15th against Austria
Jordan Binnington being added to the roster makes him Canada’s only returning player from last years team. I get some guys want time off but it sucks that guys like Bedard, Cozens (come late), Power, Guenther, and Byram didn’t come over. Either way it is still a fun team to watch.
Team Hungary’s Doman Szongath is only 16 years old and played last season in Finland’s U20 league. He is eligible of the 2026 NHL Draft. The Fargo Force of the USHL drafted him this draft in the 9th round.
