Canada gave up a goal on Latvia’s opening shot but quickly turned things around, unleashing a relentless attack to crush Latvia 7-1 at Stockholm’s Avicii Arena. The victory puts Canada at 2-0, while Latvia drops to 1-1.
Travis Konecny led the charge with two goals and an assist, and Sidney Crosby chipped in with three assists.
Marc-Andre Fleury, at 40, became Canada’s oldest goaltender to play for the national team. He stopped 16 of 17 shots, earning his first win for Canada since a 7-1 rout of the Czech Republic in the 2004 World Junior Championship semifinals.
Latvia opens up the scoring when Grand Rapids Griffins Eduards Tralmaks scores. The assist on the goal went to Dans Locmelis who plays for the Providence Bruins in the AHL. Both Tralmaks and Locmelis (along with their goalie too) played in NCAA programs in the states.
Travis Konecny tipped in a shot from his Philadelphia Flyers team mate Travis Sanheim to tie the game at 1 at 9:30 of the first period. The other assist went to the captain Sidney Crosby.–Just over two minutes after Tralmaks scored, captain Crosby ignited the crowd’s excitement. He delivered a stunning backhand saucer pass, spanning half the ice, landing perfectly on Travis Sanheim’s stick as he crossed the blue line. Sanheim glanced up, spotted Konecny charging toward the net, and unleashed a precise slap-pass that Konecny deftly tipped in.
Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon makes it 2-1 at 10:31 of the first period with the assist on the goal going to Bo Horvat.–Just 61 seconds later, Crosby’s Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia neighbour, Nathan MacKinnon, went to work. Buzzing all around, he missed one good chance but then converted a Bo Horvat pass in front, reversing two goals from yesterday when he was the passer and Horvat the scorer.
Shots on goal in the first period were 11-4 for Canada
Columbus Blue Jackets 5th overall pick in 2021 Kent Johnson gets a backhand goal right in front of the net to make it a 3-1 game for Canada at 7:11 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Kraken E man Brandon Montour and Sidney Crosby.–Sidney Crosby initiated the sequence for the third goal, retrieving the puck and passing it to Brandon Montour. Montour mirrored Sanheim’s earlier slap-pass, sending the puck to Kent Johnson. Johnson paused briefly, waiting for Grigals to make a move, before calmly sliding the puck into the open net.
Former Michigan Wolverine Kent Johnson scores again to make it a 4-1 game at 11:10 of the second period.– Kent Johnson took advantage of a turnover and ripped a shot over the glove of Grigals at 11:10
Travis Konecny makes it 5-1 at 19:36 of the second period– then with 23.9 seconds remaining Konecky intercepted another pass and wired a shot past the beleaguered goalie to make it 5-1.
Shots on goal in the second period were
Macklin Celebrini scores five hole to make it a 6-1 game for Canada at 5:09 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Travis Konecny and Sidney Crosby.–Canada’s 18-year-old prodigy Macklin Celebrini boosted the score at 5:09 in the third period, firing a long-range wrist shot that slipped past the goalie on the short side.
Barrett Hayton makes it 7-1 at 15:18 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to LA King Phillip Danault.–Later, Barrett Hayton added another goal following a video review, as his shot zipped in and out of the net so fast that penalty timekeepers had to notify the refs.
Mike Mathson scored a shorthanded goal but it got called off for interference with about 30 seconds left in the game.
Shots on goal in the third period were 16-6 for Canada. Canada outshot Latvia 37-17 in the game.
For Canada Marc Andre Fleury (the oldest goalie to ever start a game for Canada at the World Championships) made 16 saves on the 17 shots that he faced for the win. For the Latvians Former Alaska Fairbanks Nanook Gustavs Grigals stopped 30 of the 37 shots that he faced. According to Elite prospects Grigals was the Captain of the Nanooks in 2021-22.
Player of the game for Latvia was Eduards Tralmaks and for Canada it was Marc Andre Fleury.
Attendance in Stockholm was 9531
Canadas next game is Tuesday May 13th against France
