Canada beat Slovakia 7-0 on Saturday Sidney Crosby scored two and added two assists, Macklin Celebrini collected three points for Canada; Jordan Binnington recorded a 14-save shutout. Slovakia doesn’t have a single NHL player on its roster. Nice to see Flames prospect Samuel Honzek there. Would be nice if Pospisil (who played last year) was there also. Canada beat Slovakia 6-3 in the quarter finals in last years tournament. The last time Slovakia has beaten Canada at the World’s was in a quarter final match in 2012.
Brandon Montour makes it 1-0 on the Power Play at 14:44 of the first period with the assists on the goal going to Travis Konecny and Sidney Crosby.–Slovakia put up a stout defense in the opening period, but Canada dominated possession in the Slovak zone, making a goal seem inevitable. With roughly five minutes left, it came to pass. Crosby and Travis Konecny exchanged two rapid passes, setting up Brandon Montour, who fired a one-timer into an almost wide-open Slovak net at 14:44.
Philadelphia Flyer Tyson Foerster makes it 2-0 at 15:48 of the first period from Ryker Evans and Macklin Celebrini–Just over a minute later, Team Canada surged ahead by two. Ryker Evans charged into Slovakia’s zone, deftly passing to Tyson Foerster. Foerster advanced, cleverly using the Slovak defenders as a shield, and unleashed a sharp wrist shot. By the time Rybar spotted the puck, it was already past him. With 4:12 left in the opening period, Canada held a commanding 2-0 advantage.
Shots on goal in the first period were 13-5 for Canada.
Sidney Crosby scores for Canada to make it 3-0 at 3:25 of the second period with the helpers going to Macklin Celebrini and Brandon Montour.–Macklin Celebrini spun away from a Slovak defenseman and passed the puck to Crosby who immediately redirected it to Montour on the blueline. He fired a slap shot, and Rybar made the save, but Celebrini grabbed the rebound and sent a no-look pass behind his back to Crosby who fired the puck into an empty net from a sharp angle to make it 3-0 at 3.25.
Macklin Celebrini makes it 4-0 Canada at 18:08 of the second period with the assist going to Sidney Crosby and Mike Matheson. Crosby was playing in the NHL before Macklin was even born.–With just two minutes left, Canada scored again. Konecny fought for the puck in the corner, passed to Crosby behind the goal, and the veteran quickly fed Celebrini in front of the net. The result: a 4-0 lead at 18:08.
Nathan MacKinnon then makes it 5-0 at 18:59 of the second period with his 5th goal of the tournament with the assists on the goal going to Bo Horvat and Mike Matheson.–Nathan MacKinnon made it 5-0 before the period was over when his cross-ice pass hit a Slovak stick in the slot, and the puck got deflected into the net just 61 second before the end of the period.
Shots on goal in the second period were 19-6 for Canada
Sidney Crosby makes it a 6-0 game with his second goal of the game at 6:58 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Noah Dobson and Travis Konecny.– The Slovaks couldn’t contain Crosby, who was unstoppable. Just seven minutes into the period, Crosby delivered a pinpoint saucer pass to Noah Dobson at the blueline. Dobson reciprocated with an equally stunning pass back to the net, where Crosby deftly tipped it in, pushing the score to 6-0.
Nathan MacKinnon then makes it 7-0 moments later with his second of the game at 8:34 of the third period with the assist on the goal going to Will Cuylle–Nathan MacKinnon scored his second of the night – and Canada’s seventh – 90 seconds later. He drove to the net, avoided Huska’s poke check and sealed the final score with a backhander at 8.34.
Shots on goal in the third period were 12-3 for Canada with the Canadians outshooting the Slovaks 44-14 in the game.
Jordan Binnington stopped all 14 shots that he faced for the win for the shutout. For Slovakia KHL Kunlin Red Star’s Patrik Rybar stopped 27 of the 32 shots that he faced in the first two periods of play. He was then replace by HC Lugano’s Adam Huska in the third period who stopped 10 of the 12 shots that he faced.
For the Slovaks 20 year old Adam Sykora a New York Rangers draft pick who plays with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL was named player of the game and for Canada it was Sidney Crosby.
Attendance in Stockholm was 12530
Canada’s next game is Monday May 19th against Finland
